ASL - VFTT 14 - 15

YIEW FRBH THE TREXlHES
B r i t a i n ' s P r e mi e r A S L J o u r n a I
Issue 14/15 September '97 UK 3.00 US $6.00
IN THIS ISSUE
THE JUNGLE IS NEUTRAL - PTO terrain training ALL AMERICAN - review and Design Notes
JUNGLE WARFARE - Tactics for fighting in the green hell GEMBLOUX: THE FEINT - reviewed
2 VIEW FROM
EMOTICONS
With the growth of the InterNet, emoticons have originated to allow people to show
expressions in text. I find these very useful for the printed word in general, so you'll see
plenty of them in View From the Trenches.
An emoticon is created with keyboard characters and read with the head tilted to
the left. Some typical emoticons are:
:-) humour or smiley
;-) winking
:-> devious smile
<g> grin
:-( sad
:-o shocked or surprised
#-( hung-over
IN THIS ISSUE
PREP FIRE 2
INCOMING 3
THE CRUSADERS 4
NIGHT-TIME AT PEGASUS BRIDGE 5
ALL AMERICAN DESIGN NOTES 8
ALL AMERICAN 9
PLAYING WITH MYSELF 10
AN ERROR OF JUDGEMENT 11
HOW TO SPOT A YANK 12
THE JUNGLE IS NEUTRAL 13
IT WAS TWENTY YEARS AGO TODAY... 15
THE SOLDIERS OF THE EMPEROR 16
JUNGLE WARFARE IN ASL 20
JUST A MATTER OF COMBINATION 24
NON - COM-MUNICATION 28
DEBRIEFING 29
GEMBLOUX - THE FEINT 30
ON THE CONVENTION TRAIL 31
TRADEMARK NOTICE: Most products are trademarks of the companies publishing them. Use of a product name without mention of the trademark status should not be construed as a challenge to such
status. Advanced Squad Leader, Beyond Valour, Paratrooper, Yanks, Partisan, West of Alamein, The Last Hurrah, Hollow Legions, Code of Bushido, Gung Ho!, Croix de Guerre, Streets of Fire, Hedgerow
Hell, Red Barricades, Kampfgruppe Peiper I, Kampfgrupper Peiper II, Pegasus Bridge, Solitaire ASL, ASL Annual, and The General are registered trademarks of The Avalon Hill Game Company.
PREP FIRE
Hello and welcome to the LONG overdue new issue of View
From The Trenches.
Many of you have no doubt been wondering why you havent
heard from me since May, and may have perhap begun to wonder if
Id drank all your subscription fees. I have!!, but that had nothing to
do with the delay. Days before issue 14 was finished at the end of
May my laser printer broke down. Three weeks later the replace-
ment part arrived - broken :-( After another three weeks a second
replacement part arrived - broken :-( Finally, in mid-August a re-
placement part arrived in good condition, putting me back in busi-
ness. So a couple of days later I went on holiday for a week!
On top of that I had to pick up a new toner cartridge and
replace my keyboard (they dont like being dropped onto floors!) a
couple of days ago, delaying me again:-(.
All in all this issue has been VERY frustrating to produce.
Anyway, as you will have noticed this issue is twice as big as
normal. With issue 15 due out in September, I decided early in
August to combine the contents of issues 14 and 15.
By dropping the redundant pages (EX: covers, multiple Prep
Fire, Incoming, and Crusader columns), I was able to include some
extra material.
I have also upgraded my PC over these past few months, so I
can produce much clearer graphics now.
Overall, I hope youll find the extra material and the crisper
graphics make this double issue worth the wait.
Especially as I am taking the opportunity to raise the price of
VFTT. As of next issue, VFTT will cost 2.00 per issue (3.00 over-
seas; US $4.00). I hope to add 4 more pages per issue in the near
future (certainly within the next six months), but I also want to rise
some funds to produce additional back issues and for a couple of
VFTT projects which are in the pipeline.
One of which is a Platoon Leader module based on Opera-
tion Neptune, the British river crossing of the Seine in August 1944.
Designed by Andy Saunders (designer of the scenario VFTT1 High
Danger), playtesting is well underway, and Andy hopes to be fin-
COVER: British glider troops in Normandy prepare to head
inland having unloaded their jeep from the glider.
Back issues are available at the following
price:
VFTT '95 3.00 (overseas 5.00)
VFTT 7 - 9 1.00 (overseas 2.00)
VFTT10 - 13 1.50 (overseas 2.50)
All comments are welcome. Even better,
contribute. Write an article. Design a scenario.
Share your ASL experiences with others. VFTT
allows you to communicate with other ASLers.
Don't be a silent voice.
VIEW FROM THE TRENCHES
49 Lombardy Rise
Leicester
LE5 OFQ
E-mail:
[email protected]
World Wide Web Home Page:
ht t p: / / ourworl d. compus erve. com/
homepages/Pete_Phillipps
VIEW FROM THE TRENCHES is the bi-
monthly British ASL journal. It costs 2.00 per
issue (overseas 3.00; US $4.00), with a year's
subscription costing 10.00 (overseas 15.00;
US $20.00). Payment should be in pounds ster-
ling, with cheques made out to PETE
PHILLIPPS. Readers are reminded to check
their address label to see when their subscrip-
tion ends.
Issue 16 will be out in November.
Continued on page 26, column 1
THE TRENCHES 3
I NCOMI NG
At the US GENCON convention in
July, Avalon Hill president Jack Dott men-
tioned that they plan to release two ASL
magazines by the end of the year, the first a
collection of classic scenarios, the other con-
taining material from out-of-print annuals.
There may also be another Action Pack is-
sued this year. Blood Reef: Tarawa should
arrive in the first quarter of 1998, with the
long delayed HASL module The Third
Bridge following that. Finally, it appears
they have decided that the minor countries
will be issued in two modules, with the first
expected this time next year.
Also speaking out has been Stuart
Tucker, editor of The General: over rumours
of ASLs demise in volumne 31 number 3:
I cannot accede to pleas for more coverage
of ASL within these pages. It appears that
some have mis-read this to assume that ASL
coverage with The General will diminish .
In an online message he clarified: The point
here is more within a single issue is not
possible. Ill publish 2 ASL scenarios plus
articles in each issue so long as the hobby
keeps generating them for me. If ASL-play-
ing subscribers drift away from the maga-
zine, then and only then will The General
cease to publish on this system which so
divides my readership.
The Tampa ASL Group will be releas-
ing Schwerpunkt Vol. II at the American ASL
Oktoberfest convention next month (it will
also be available at INTENSIVE FIRE 97
the following week). It will again feature
12 orginal scenarios along with a booklet of
detailed scenario analysis and designers
notes for each scenario, and will cost $12.00.
They can be contacted at Sherry Enterprises,
PO Box 3, Ruskin, FL 33750, United States
of America.
Critical Hit! Inc. have begun shipping
Scroungin ASL News, the Aussie 97 sce-
nario pack and the ASL News Pack 1.
Critical Hit, Inc. have Korea 1950 -
Tank vs. Tank currently undergoing playtest.
An eight scenario set, it will feature new
mounted counters, an historical guide and
several never before published photos. It is
expected to be on sale by Christmas, and
cost about $12.00.
Beyond that they also have GENESIS
48: Arab Israeli War Pack 1 in the pipe-
line, as well as modules based on the action
at Ruweisat Ridge (by Gavutu-Tanambogo
Dear Prospective Playtester:
Critical Hit! Inc. is looking for some new playtesters. The kind of guy we
want to have an ongoing working relationship with meets the following criteria:
1. Can work with Steve Pleva (hes nice).
2. Reliable (Ill find you and gouge your eyes out if you make me send you
free stuff and never reply again without a good reason).
3. Mature (no cranks that are going to embarrass us with flaming weird-
ness, no former SS members without archival photos).
4. Enthusiastic (were going to have fun).
5. Not playtesting for anyone else (were going to ask you to put that in
writing but then well let you in on some good secrets!)
6. You have at least one friend in hex and he/she/he-she plays ASL (Sorry
no solitaire playtesters needed right now).
What you will receive:
1. Free beer at ASLOK (But then, so does the general public). If you dont
go to ASLOK, we just hoist toasts to you on my back porch.
2. One free copy of your playtested item, product, etc. (i.e., a free copy for
EACH playtester) even if you playtest partial or portions of said finished prod-
uct.
3. One free issue of EACH issue of Critical Hit magazine as long as you
are an active playtester (no fooling us by propping up dead bodies to get the extra
head of cabbage).
4. The opportunity to bounce your ideas off of our gang of historians, sol-
diers and ex-cons.
This is a serious offer and apologies to the humorless are hereby issued.
Please E-mail Ray Tapio at [email protected] (hey, you knew that!)
and mark the subject PLAYTESTER...ME or via snail mail at Critical Hit, 88
Lodar Lane, Brewster, NY10509, USA.
Ray. Tapio
4 VIEW FROM
THE CRUSADERS
PRODUCT PRICES
The following price list is effective
from 1st September 1997.
For the latest on stock availability
telephone The Crusaders on (01258)
459851, or by email at
[email protected].
Time On Target #1 8.00
March Madness Scenario Pack T.B.A.
WCW Colour Scenario Pack 8.00
Critical Hit #1 6.80
Critical Hit #3-1 11.00
Critical Hit #4-1 12.50
Critical Hit Xmas Special 13.60
SS Schwere 102 5.60
Jatkosota 10.20
Soldiers of the Negus (CH Edition) 12.80
All American 19.00
Platoon Leader (2nd edition) 9.60
Armored Stand (PL2.0) 8.00
Paddington Bears 96 Scenario Pack 8.00
Rout Pack I 6.80
Rout Pack II 8.00
OAF Pack I 8.00
Leathernecks 8.00
Gembloux: The Feint 14.40
Defeating Enemy Armor 7.20
Schwerpunkt 8.00
Schwerpunkt II T.B.A.
Baraque de Fraiture 12.75
God Save The King 16.00
King Of The Hill 16.00
ASL News #28 8.00
ASL News #29 8.00
All orders should have 10% added for
postage and packing [EXC: Crusaders are
exempt P&P charges] and be sent to Neil
Stevens, The Crusaders, 4 Monkton
Down Road, Blandford Camp, Blandford
Forum, Dorset, DT11 8AE.
T H E
CRUSADERS
ASL Oktoberfest, held in Cleveland
Ohio, (ASLOK for those in the know) is
approaching fast. INTENSIVE FIRE 97 is
close behind it but in Bournemouth, UK.
Rencontres continues with its four one day
tournaments per year in Brussels and I
daresay the renegades in the north of En-
gland are already considering BERSERK
98 in Blackpool. Yes, you guessed it; for
this issues column I would like to talk a
little bit about ASL conventions.
I expect there are some of you out
there reading this column who dont feel
confident enough to attend an ASL conven-
tion. Maybe you have only just got hold of
the ASL Rulebook and dont have many of
the modules. Maybe you dont have a regu-
lar face-to-face opponent and so the major-
ity of your gaming is carried out solo [I know
THAT feeling - Pete]. Maybe you are at a
stage in life where your passion for ASL is
being subsumed by other more worldly con-
cerns and you just subscribe to VFTT to keep
in touch with the ASL scene. You might even
be someone who picked up this newsletter
from Leisure Games out of idle curiosity,
just to see if it shed any more light on that
monstrously expensive rulebook, sitting
there on the shelves. If so a BIG welcome
to you.
I want to make a personal appeal to
all of you out there reading this, who have
discounted attending a convention in the
near future, to seriously reconsider. Okay
so you might lose all of your games, hell I
lost my first four games at BERSERK in
March this year. You might feel that you do
not have a full understanding of the quirks
of the rules, especially if you have been gam-
ing solo for a long time. This is no reason
not to attend. I dont know anybody who
does know the rules fully yet and each of us
forget aspects very quickly (remember the
on about MG firing as Ordnance against
Armoured Vehicles not being able to score
a Critical Hit; even with rolling a Kellys*).
The thing is, if you dont make the effort to
attend you will never meet all those other
Berserkers who share your passion about
the greatest game in the world.
We all play to different standards, we
all have our own favorites within the sys-
tem (in case you are wondering I love to
play the Russians; Commissars, Human
Waves, T34s, Conscripts everywhere - the
challenge of it!) but, and a big but, we all
ENJOY it. Everybody at any of these Con-
ventions seriously loves playing ASL. They
want a friendly game that both players will
enjoy and, whatever your level of play, you
will learn something new.
However, undoubtedly the greatest
aspect of ASL, in my opinion although I am
sure this is echoed throughout this reader-
ship, is the circle of friends that you will
quickly develop: not just from this country
but from all over the world. After attending
two or three conventions you will find that
you will look forward to the next conven-
tion mainly because it is the opportunity to
meet and greet all of your new found ASL
friends. You will soon be exchanging great
tales of daring do; probably in the bar if pre-
vious conventions are anything to go by!
So, if you think that an ASL conven-
tion is not for you may I ask you to seriously
reconsider. Just make that little extra effort
to attend one, even if just to appear in a
spectator capacity. You will be made most
welcome and I promise you that you will be
most amply rewarded.
Right, off my soapbox! Thank you for
all of the INTENSIVE FIRE proformas that
I have received to date. Do keep them com-
ing in. Philippe Leonard has indicated he
will yet again be attending this years event
and Ray Tapio, the editor of Critical Hit, is
also planning to make the trip from America
over to Bournemouth - so dont tell me that
Scotland is too far away!!! And a big thank
you to all of you renewing your subscrip-
tion to the Crusaders, despite the price hike.
It really is most gratifying to see people
resubscribing. I think you will all agree that
the improvements we have seen, and are
continuing to see in VFTT, have been worth
the investment and the Crusaders in par-
ticular have all made this possible by their
contribution to the hobby. If, by some
miracle, you have not received information
about INTENSIVE FIRE 97 please give me
a call at home (01258 459851) or drop me a
line and I will rectify the situation immedi-
ately.
Yours in gaming,
Neil Stevens
p.s. A crate of beer to the first person at
INTENSIVE FIRE 97 who can tell me
where the 8-1 Nobo Leader is represented
in the game system (except you Phil!)
<Manic Cackling!>
* Snake-eyes for our Colonial cousins.
THE TRENCHES 5
NlGNT-TlME AT
PEGASUS BRlDGE
German strategy for the Night Actions at Pegasus Bridge
is to have these areas connect to each other
(or to overlap).
Take a look at example one, which
assumes that a British unit is in both 23Q2
and 23M8, and all other Locations are Un-
controlled. The unit in 23Q2 may set up
anywhere within two hexes of 23Q2; the
same is true of the unit in 23M8. Note that
23L7 is not part of the British set-up area
because a Strategic Location can only be part
of your set-up area if you Control it or it is
surrounded by your set-up area and not en-
emy-Controlled.
In example two British units are also
in 23M5 and 23N5. Their presence links
the 23Q2 and 23M8 set-up areas, allowing
the four British units to set up anywhere
within the larger set-up area. in this example
they do also gain Control of 23O6 even
though they do not have a unit in it, as it is
surrounded by their set-up area.
Of course, the enemy will try and have
a say over your set-up areas.
Any hex that is within two hexes of a
Strategic Location of both sides is consid-
ered to be No Mans Land, and neither side
may set up there.
In example three, German units are
assumed to be in 23J1, 23J2, 23J3, 23K4,
and 23O6. Primarily as a result of the latter
unit, there is a large area of No Mans Land
around the 23M5/N5/O6 area.
Any unit which cannot trace a route
to a Friendly Board edge via friendly hexes
or Uncontrolled hexes (No Mans Land hexes
are Controlled by neither side) is Isolated.
An Isolated unit suffers from set up limita-
tions and Ammunition Shortage in the next
CG Scenario, which usually puts it in a deli-
cate position.
For example, if hexrow Q is the Brit-
ish Friendly Board Edge, neither the unit in
23Q2 nor the unit in 23M8 are Isolated as
both can trace a line to hexorw Q. However
the units in 23M5 and 23N5 are both Iso-
lated because they are surrounded by No
Mans Land (the same would also be true of
the German unit in 23O6).
EXAMPLE ONE EXAMPLE TWO EXAMPLE THREE
At 0015 on 6th June 1944, 3 British
gliders carrying a highly trained assault
force attacked and captured the bridge over
the Canal du Caen in the first operation of
D-Day. They subsequently held on against
repeated German counter-attacks until re-
lieved late that evening. This is the subject
of Pegasus Bridge, the latest Historical ASL
module from AH.
STRATEGIC LOCATIONS
The small size and scale of the battle
makes Pegasus Bridge an ideal introductory
CG. With this in mind it is perhaps worth
looking at the importance Strategic Loca-
tions play in a CG.
Strategic Locations play a vital role
in a CG, as they define your set-up area at
the start of each CG date.
In general, a Strategic Location is ei-
ther a building Location or a hex contain-
ing an entrenchment (others exist, but are
less likely to be encountered). Any hex
within two hexes of a Strategic Location is
considered to be part of your set-up area.
The key to expanding your set-up area
6 VIEW FROM
THE OPPOSING FORCES
The table below should give a rough
idea as to the relative size of each sizes
forces as the CG progresses. Although the
assumed losses could quite easily turn out
to be wild guesses, the table can be used to
give a player a rough idea as to the size of
the opposing forces during the CG.
From the table, it is clear that the
British have to hold out for a long time,
making them very vulnerable to attrition.
Although the Walking Wounded rule will
bring some eliminated units back, a few bad
CC results could be very ugly for British
long term prospects.
The Germans look to have their best
relative positions in the Day I and Day III
scenarios. This suggests they should be the
times of maximum German effort, with Day
III looking particularly good.
LANDING ZONES
The most obvious landing site for the
British is the natural runway formed by the
brushes to the south of the bridge. However,
the subsequent approach to the bridge is
somewhat difficult here, as the wire,
trenches and the bunker are facing this di-
rection.
Landing in the Open Ground hexes
between the irrigation ditches to the north
offers easier access to the bridge, but land-
ing is slightly riskier to the gliders if the
Landing DR fails; with crash drms of +1
for night, +1 for not landing in the Intended
Landing Hex, and +1 for an irrigation ditch,
rolling as low as a 4, a 50% chance!!
NIGHT I
During Night I the German forcess are
under No Move counters and are restricted
by CG4 (as opposed to E1.21). This means
that they will not be activated except by a
non-Sniper attack, or by having a LOS to a
Known enemy moving/advancing/routing
within 3 hexes; even the presence of a leader
with Freedom of Movement willl not suf-
fice.
Things are compounded by their in-
ability to fire during the British GT1 ex-
cept in TPBF situations, which makes it
difficult to stop the British landing safely.
You could pray that all three gliders crash,
but this is not a recommended strategy to
base a defence on!!
Assuming they land safely, the Brit-
ish are likely to target the pillbox, the AT
Gun, and the bridge itself on GT1. With the
forces at their disposal, they are unlikely to
have any problems taking all three.
Since no Gunflash is placed due to
CC, this will be the preferred method of
attack for the British (to ensure your units
retain their No Move counters for as long
as possible). With a maximum of one Ger-
man MMC per Location, the British can
easily get a 3:1 CC attack on each, elimi-
nating the defenders on an eight or less.
In view of the ease with which the
British can clear the area east of the canal,
defending it with anything other than a mini-
mal force is pretty pointless. Essentially the
German philosophy should be He who de-
fends the Bridge dies.
Instead, you should aim to limit Brit-
ish expansion on the west side of the bridge,
minimising the British west side set-up area
for the start of Night II. Ideally you want to
keep hex Y18, the West Side Bridge Exit
Hex (WSBEH) or to keep it in No Mans
Land so that any British units which man-
age to cross the bridge are Isolated at the
start of Night II. The British cannot afford
to start the Night II date Isolated across the
river with a full company and 3-4 tanks com-
ing at them from the north.
SET-UP
There are two building Locations ad-
jacent to the WSBEH and a unit (possibly
HIP) should go into each of these. This pre-
vents quick access to these buildings should
any British survive the FP as they move
through the WSBEH. A HIP unit in either
Location means that any British unit which
tries to enter will get bounced back into the
WSBEH.
However, the main defence position
is a line of trenches in the grain located near
the WSBEH, in hexes such as W16, X15,
and X16. The latter has a clear LOS to the
WSBEH (and is in the NVR range of 2
hexes) while being out of LOS to just about
everything except the buildings across the
street, thanks to the hillside hedge on the
X16/X17 hexside. Since the hillside hedge
is at level 1 and a unit in a foxhole behind a
hedge can only see and be seen by adjacent
units, it cannot be attacked from the
WSBEH, but is still effective in making it
No Mans Land. A squad, MMG and what-
ever leader the Germans come up with
should go there. To make the position even
more secure, place wire on top of the
trenches.
CLEARING THE TRENCH LINE
With a limit of only one MMC per
each hex, and the inability to move until
attacked, you are in a difficult situation if
the British get into CC and are able to take
your troops out one by one.
As far as the trench line is concerned,
this may not be as easy as it seems. Unless
they are able to circle around the position
and approach from the south. the British
must become CX to advance into a trench
hex (1.5MF for Grain, doubled for the hill,
and an additional 1MF for Night [E1.51],
making it an Advance vs. Difficult Terrain
{A4.72]). Being CX, they will suffer a +1
Ambush drm (and a -1 for being Stealthy,
for a net +0 drm). If you retain Conceal-
ment rather than firing at the British as they
are adjacent, you will have a -2 Ambush drm
and a +1 drm for being Lax, a net -1 drm.
If you do Ambush the British you will
likely have a -3 DRM (-1 Ambush, -1 wire,
-1 vs. CX) in CC for a lowly German Con-
script vs. an elite British airborne squad!!
Even if the British Ambush you, they will
still be looking at a +1 DRM (-1 Ambushed,
+1 on Wire, +1 being CX) while the am-
bushed German is looking at a net -1 (+1
ambush, -1 Wire, -1 CX)!!!
In practice things wont normally be
quite so rosy as the British will generally
have the benefit of an advantage in the num-
ber of squads (EX: a pair of 6-4-8 squads
vs. a 4-3-6 squad) and a leader to influence
both the Ambush dr and the Close Combat
DR.
In fact, a concealed German unit may
be better off remaining Concealed, rather
than attacking, in the hope of surviving and
attacking with TPBF in the following PFPh,
or perhaps withdrawing during the MPh to
an ADJACENT trench
For example, a typical British attack
might be at 3:1 with a +0 DRM (+1 CX, +1
Wire, -1 Leader), against which the Ger-
man reply would be a 1:4 with a -3 DRM.
By remaining Concealed, the British attack
BRITISH
SCENARIO REINF. START LOSE END
Night I 7.5 7.5 -2 5.5
Night II 2.5 8 -2 6
Night III 18 24 -2 22
Dawn 4 26 -2 24
Day I 0 24 -2 22
Day II 15 37 -17 20
Day III 0 20 -4 16
Dusk 25 41 n/a n/a
GERMAN
SCENARIO REINF. START LOSE END
Night I 0.5 26 -5.5 21
Night II 0 21 -4 17
Night III 0 17 -6 11
Dawn 16 27 -6 21
Day I 12 33 -6 27
Day II 16 43 -10 33
Day III 12 45 -4 41
Dusk 0 41 n/a n/a
THE TRENCHES 7
is reduced to 3:2. Additionally, if the Brit-
ish make a capture attempt then there is an
additional -1 DRM due to the German Con-
scripts.
As can be seen, your forces at the start
of the game are woefully weak. The British
are unlikely to fire at you, so CC will be the
order of the day. Thus the more forces you
put west of the bridge the better. Even if
you cant stop the British onslaught on the
bridge, you may be able to escape some of
the garrison, and, more importantly, concen-
trate on preventing the Ox and Bucks ex-
panding the bridgehead.
Although it is unlikely in Night I, be
aware of any British attempt to
take the Z13 building. If they Con-
trol Z13 then the two German set-
up areas will be split and any units
in the JJ12 set-up area that are
given Freedom of Movement for
Night II will not be able to set-up
South of CC. Until an entrench-
ment is placed in another location
to connect them, Benouville and
Le Port can only be joined as a set-
up area by the control of Z13.
One last point. On turn 2,
an 8-1 enters the board in a
SdKfzI. being unarmoured, it is
not an AFV (as per D1.2) so it may
not give Freedom of Movement to
the other German AFVs on the
board. Nor can the leader cannot
give Freedom of Movement to anyt
infantry he starts a turn stacked
with due to the restrictions on be-
ing in LOS and be within 3 hexes
of a moving/advancing/routing Known en-
emy unit. So what should the 8-1 and the
SdKfz be used to do? Take a scenic tour of
the battlefield?
Answers on a postcard please to...
NIGHT II
As Night II opens most of your units
(apart from those south of hexrow CC) gain
Freedom of Movement.. Knowing that the
British will be reinforced by a huge influx
of fresh troops in Night III (18 6-4-8 squads
with assorted SW and two -2 leaders) and
many of the British MMCs that may be lost
will come back in the next CG date as
Walking Wounded it is vital you force the
the British back across the canal now. If you
dont, you never will. Thus you must
counter-attack and ideally force the British
back across the bridge. Failing that, keep-
ing any British units across the bridge Iso-
lated may suffice. Regardless, you must do
your best to restrict the expansion of the
brigdehead.
Military theory suggests that the best
counter to an airdrop is to attack directly
into the landing zone In this case, you can-
not afford to let the British establish a well
defined and defendable perimeter on the
west side of the bridge. Night II offers a
chance for you to put Rommels Attack
them on the beaches strategy into effect.
Essentially, you must do anything,
risk anything, to drive the British back
across the canal.
VBM Freeze sleaze is particularly
useful in this situation, although it is dan-
gerous because the British have good lead-
ership, PIATs, and possibly even Gammon
Bombs.
PIATs can easily take out a tank, and
even at night and against a small target get-
ting a hit it not too difficult as it approaches
or enters a British hex.
If they wait until the AFV gets into
their hex and try to take it out in CC, they
have a basic 5 CCV against the tank, with a
+2 for motion, usually -1 or -2 leadership,
probably -1 for ambush, and they have a
16% chance of an extra -2 if the Gammon
Bombs come through (is there any reason
that, should the squad not make the ATMM
check, the leader cant try?).
All in all this is fairly dangerous for
the tank, but well worth the sacrifice if you
can force the British back acroos the bridge.
If the British efforts vs. the tank fail
you then move in three 4-4-7s with LMGs
and perhaps a -1 leader (if available).
Three 4-4-7 squads and a 8-1 leader
advancing in Cloaked gives you a -2 Am-
bush drm for being Cloaked, a -1 for being
stealthy (the SMC), and -1 drm for your
leader, a total of -4. Against this the British
will have at most a couple of squads (either
a pair of 6-4-8s or a 6-4-8 and a 4-5-8) and
perhaps a -1 or -2 leader, giving them a -1
drm for being stealthy and a -1 or -2 leader
drm. The result is a net -1 or -2 drm for the
Germans. making them the favoruites to
Ambush the British. Close Combat is then
1:1 with at least a -1 for the leader and
maybe a -1 for Ambush, a 50-50 chance of
success. If the British lose their west side
forces are about to be cut off, regardless of
wether your troops survived or not. In this
circumstances the risk is probably
worth it.
A confident German player could
use these tactics to clear an area
where there are only a couple of
MMC, some not in a building. But
I cant see the German making in-
roads on a group of well led 8
morale troops that cant get sur-
rounded in a set of stone buildings,
as is the case just across the road.
Risking of a couple of tanks this
way is worth it if you consider the
possible gains. Any broken Brit-
ish on the West side of the canal
inside a tiny perimeter are look-
ing at capture or elimination. No
saving rolls in the form of resur-
rection as walking wounded either.
One other thing to remember is
that a hit tank could blaze leaving
the British illuminated for the remainder of
the scenario.
NIGHT III
Exactly what you should do in Night
III depends on your success or failure in
Night II.
If you were able to drive the British
back across to the east side of the canal,
you basically need to ensure you have so
much fire power directed towards the
WSBEH. The large amout of FP available
makes it extremely difficult for the British
to force their way through even with a mul-
titude of -2 and -3 leaders.
If the British have established them-
selves across the canal, keep a viable at-
tack force in Benouville to threaten a drive
for the bridge. This forces the British to keep
back enough to protect it and reduces the
Major General Richard Gale, commander of the 6th Airborne
Division, briefing his troops prior to the D-Day invasion.
8 VIEW FROM
Ask me why a Brit should become so
interested in an American paratroop action,
and I point to John Keegan. This man is my
sort of historian. He has never been in a
battle, never seen one. But he writes (and
lectures) with conviction about what it
would feel like to be there. In 1976, I was
moved by the way his book The Face of
Battle looked at war through the soldiers
eyes. By 1982, when he wrote Six Armies
in Normandy, my own interest in World
War II had been rekindled by Squad Leader,
and the battles he recounted had extra spe-
cial meaning. And who could resist a chap-
ter entitled All American Screaming
Eagles?
My serious interest in the subject re-
ally got going one evening in 1987. In a
California supermarket, I found a paperback
copy of Night Drop by S. L. A. Marshall.
For the next five years, every business trip I
made saw that little paperback in my brief-
case. As the plane set off for home, the
gridlocked traffic slid out of sight below,
and the hostess broke out the drinks, I would
switch off from work, reach for my book,
and enter the world of the individual para-
trooper, alone and confused in the Normandy
night.
Then came the first visit. I knew La
Fiere, Cauquigny, what had happened there,
and who had fought. But I had no clear men-
tal picture of the ground other than from
maps. I only had a couple of hours, return-
ing from a holiday, as my wife sat bored
and uncomprehending in the car. I took pic-
tures. I spoke to a farmer who turned out to
be the owner of the Manoir, whom I now
know quite a lot better. I was moved: by the
sight of the battlefield and even more by
the thought that such a tranquil spot in the
middle of peaceful countryside could have
been the focus for so much bloody mayhem.
The final spur came just before
Christmas, 1994. ASL players from all over
the world met in La Gleize to spend the 50th
anniversary playing KGPon site. There
Philippe Leonard presented us with ASL
News #28 with its fantastic, bound-in His-
torical ASL map of Stoumont Station.
Within weeks, I knew that I could adapt an
ASL scale map of La Fiere, Cauquigny, and
the causeway that would fit two pages of
ASL News.
This is not the place to go over the
fate of ASL News, but suffice to day that by
January, 1997, I had a near-complete HASL
module looking for a publisher, and Ray
Tapio of Critical Hit! Inc. promised a deal
that included virtually full editorial control
over the finished article.
What have I learned from the experi-
ence?
1) If you are visiting a battlefield with
serious intentions of creating a wargame
map, do not just take pictures. Take a
camcorder. Start with any and all roads over
the battlefield. Roads are the skeleton of
modern terrain. Get them right and your map
is well under way. Video every road, in both
directions if possible.
2) Historical ASL is not just an accu-
rate map! All American is the result of ten
years of study. So is KGP. So is Pedro
Ramis amazing Stonne Heights (working
title). Get under the skin; speak to the lo-
cals. In short, become more of an expert on
the subject than most of the authors you have
read! The scenario Counterstroke At
Stonne uses board six because its designer
ALL AMERICAN DESIGN NOTES
Ian Daglish
THE TRENCHES 9
All American: The Battle For
Kellams Bridge is a new product from Criti-
cal Hit.
What you get is a glossy booklet and
ten scenarios. The centrepiece is a beauti-
ful map with larger than average hexes;. Id
say about RB size. It is of a quality with AH
paper maps but I really think that the BdF
map remains the best independently pro-
duced one to date. Depicted on the map is
the area where the US 82nd Airborne fought
the German 91st Division as they tried to
take and secure a bridgehead for VII corps
on 6th-9th June 1944.
I must quickly reveal that I know the
designer of this module (I believe it deserves
that status) personally, and spent some time
with Ian Daglish at the BERSERK! conven-
tion in Blackpool in March He talked me
through the history, showing me the detailed
map of Normandy with the area of the game
map marked out and so on. I got to do a
little playtesting with him as well.
Ian has really put his heart and soul
into this thing. He spent time walking the
actual battlefield and photographing and
videotaping it all. Hes had contact with the
82nd Division Association and he spoke to
the locals too. The scenarios
show careful thought and inter-
esting ways of reflecting the
actual conditions present. How-
ever, this review is largely based
on the quality of the product and
I hope I havent let my personal
feelings get in the way.
Remember Le Manoir?
28 Germans trying to stave off
the onrushing Paratroopers?
Well, Ian is not really very criti-
cal of the original scenario be-
cause he realises the limitations
placed on the scenario design-
ers by the geomorphic boards.
His up to date version has two
rather striking features though:
The first is that it tells us that it
was members of the 82nd,
rather than the 101st, who car-
ried out the attack. The second
is that the American units in-
volved were not aware of each
others presence and launched
a number of uncoordinated at-
tacks. This is really captured
rather neatly by the SSR caus-
ing the original wave to be re-
moved if they dont make the required
progress before the second wave arrives.
The original attackers must really push it if
they are to stay on board after the deadline.
Remember No Better Spot to Die?
It was a misquote. The actual words were
I dont know a better spot than this to die.
This action gets the HASL treatment as well.
There is a brief intro in the booklet
and Ian also provides a paragraph or two on
each scenario by way of designers notes.
The scenario cards have extremely fine print
quality and the detail is excellent. Im get-
ting used to the CH counter clipart nowa-
days. Nice to see the unit badges on the sce-
nario cards again. Photos of places on the
battlefield, as they exist today, litter the
booklet and scenario cards.
There is no PL campaign included.
As with BdF, the actions didnt leave them-
selves open to direct conversion to a cam-
paign game as we know it. However, there
is a sort of structure for a series of scenarios
to be strung together given in the latest is-
sue of Critical Hit magazine.
ALL AMERICAN
Trevor Edwards
My single major gripe would be that
the cover of the booklet doesnt have a
snazzy illustration. A minor flaw I think.
I know 19.00 seems a lot of money,
but the product is a labour of love. Author
Ian Daglish didnt allow anything to go
ahead without QA-ing it personally, despite
being on the other side of the pond. I think
it is the best independent product weve seen
since BdF and I would recommend anyone
to have a look. Most of the scenarios are
designed to have a high replay value. If you
recall fondly the Paratrooper module, as I
do (it and the ASLRB were all the ASL I
owned for 18 months a long, long time back),
dont miss this gem.
It is available for $25.00 from Criti-
cal Hit at 88 Lodar Lane, Brewster, NY
10509, United States of America. UK ASL
players can also order it from The Crusad-
ers, 4 Monkton Down Road, Blandford
camp, Blandford Forum, Dorset, DT11 8AE.
10 VIEW FROM
PLAlNC WlIB M5FLF
A lone American Squad Leader remnisces about Operation Torch.
Paul J. Venard
A fellow named Anthony Pierson
once wrote to me: I have recently
reeentered the field of ASL. I would like to
refresh my skills...it has been a long time. I
am thinking of using SASL to do this. Any
thoughts and ideas would be appreciated.
Dear Anthony, .........NOoooOOooOo,
Dont DooOOooo it! <Compose
self,compose self>
Seriously, SASL can be fun, but it is
not standard ASL, so why confuse yourself?
Why not PBEM, (Play by Electronic Mail),
or ask about VASL (Virtual ASL), or the IRC
site, or even put an Opponents Wanted ad
in The General? (A SL buddy and I once
found an opponent in The General, when I
lived in Redwood City, in northern
California...and the guy lived 4 houses down
the street, I shit you not!)
But if you must play SASL, the latest
issue of The General has a Series Replay
on the Bunker Busting mission, (another
failed attempt to get somewhere with the
Americans), and I think it points out the
importance of not getting in too big of a
hurry, going for too much too fast.
Nor can you assume that the AI is
going to allow you to overrun position after
position. Even though by my most recent
mission I had learned to try to stick together
and set up kill stacks/FGs to mow down the
first S? units who dared to expose them-
selves, the #%$! Panic! and Command
Control features tripped me up every step
of the way. As for my talent for malfing
SWs...
I think the SASL design team must
have been doing a lot of MUHAHA-ing
when they put that thing together. Its fun.
Its MUCH faster than PBEM. But its not
like watching your opponent across the table
go running for a spoon to put his eyeballs
back in, cause you just HIPd his kill-stack
bigtime.
Anyway, to fill-in those moments
when PBEM games were proceeding at a
frozen snail-pace, I started a SASL campaign
game in the fall of 96.
I had ideas of starting with a com-
pany of Americans in North Africa, (the his-
torical aspect was sloppy at first, but im-
proved with missions), and fighting one vic-
torious campaign after the other. <cough!>
What resulted could easily be 60
pages long, but Ive reduced it to something
that Evelyn Wood could probably scan and
regurgitate between sneezes #1 and #2. Note
Of Interest - the first mission was Bunker
Busting, which was featured in the latest
issue of The General. A poor way for a
rookie at SASL to begin a campaign...
Americans: Paul J. Venard
Germans: Jerry SASL
I. BUNKER BUSTING
(retroactively named We
were soaked-off!)
Lt. Venard learns painful lesson
about assigning large chunks of geography
to each of his 3 platoons, (but somehow
doesnt get fragged by his men).
Left and centre never make it past
hills to immediate front, due to German MG
positions on the other side, directed by Ger-
man leaders with such high ratings (a pre
8/43 specialty) that theyre yawning while
directing fire. Right flank caves in, hit by
guns, elites, bunker, (although it fell), and
German 9-2 leadership, (he stood his
ground).
Two temporarily attached T30
HMC HTs get some ace-type kills and two
Random Event platoons of green Amis help
firm-up the company, (?!!!), but the mission
goes to Jerry SASL. (See latest issue of The
General about the difficulties of Bunker
Busting.)
II. THE BRIDGE
or....German Recon Fun
Ah, defense! Easier, right? Ha!
Thanks, in part, to a tardy-tardy-tardy-
tardy-tardy demo squad that arrives at the
bridge juuuuust a little bit after a German
AC parks on the other side of said bridge,
(demo leader KIA, squad broken), Nard Co.
and a platoon fleeing to their protection get
more than pounded by a German force of 5
ACs, 200 infantry, and 2 strafing
Messerschmitts.
One Nard Co. leader, sweating blood
trying to defend the hot side of the bridge,
turns heroic, steps out of foxhole, and is
instantly snake-eyed dead by Long Range
548; a second Nard Co. leader gets hands
on a radio set, (Random Event), cant make
Radio Contact in 2 attempts, and a German
10-2 directing a 4-6-7- squad with a HMG
turns him into Swiss cheese.
The leader/remnants from Other
Co., hauling ass toward the bridge and
safety, are taken POW before they make it,
and Lt. Venard is seriously wounded by AC
IFE, as he attempts to withdraw Nard Co.,
and he is sent home for the duration of the
campaign.
III. REST AND REFIT
Forced to Rest & Refit, Nard Co.s
brief celebration is brought to a quick halt
by the new C.O., who is Lt. Venards oldest
nephew, The Barrel.
The -1 penalty for a R&R month now
puts the score at Jerry SASL:3, Nard Co.: 0.
IV. TANK ATTACK!...
How to *Special Rules*
yourself a win!
February, 1943. Kasserine Pass
month. Cannot lose 1 more mission, or Jerry
SASL wins and the rest is academic.
A frantic search through half a dozen
books comes up with a post-Kasserine sce-
nario wherein Rommels tanks, forced by
heavy rains to stick to the roads, were fi-
nally halted.
Nard Co. watches through heavy rain,
(Overcast-activated, not Special-Ruled!), as
THE TRENCHES 11
their temporarily attached ATGs (and
Alpha squad) destroy first one AFV, and
then another, and another, and about 5 or 6
all told, and then breathe a sigh of relief as
the whistle blows, ending the game just as
German infantry, despite slogging through
mud, is on the verge of crushing the Ameri-
can left.
With the victorious self-sacrifice of
Alpha squad in CC with a German Pz IIIE,
the last of the original Nard Co. squads is
given its permanent leave.
V. POCKETS
Thanks for the support,
General! :-(
Okay, II Corps has been doing a job
in the Gafsa/El Guettar offensive of this
time-slot, but there are pockets to be
cleaned up. What does the SASL system give
Nard Co. to do?....
Well, who the hell said that a beat-
up infantry company can take a bypassed
village by itself? Pvt. Nard G. Krebs kept
shaking his head, saying over and over
again, Well need some help, well need
some help. His buddy, Dobie, who had a
habit of being WRONG, replied, Well
GET some help, dont worry about it! Dont
WORRY about it!
To make it short, by the time Nard
Co. had taken the cemetery, the church, and
the building and the pillbox behind the
church, tens of grunts were casualties, Cpl.
Price was KIA in CC, and Nephew of
Venard, (The Barrel), was a sniper tro-
phy. Sgt. Mills was left alone, to lead the
much-reduced Nard Co., as a Random-
Eventing line of Advance Status German
units were activating on the American left
flank and scooting past their Hold Status
comrades and closing in on the American
right.
A ray of sunshine appeared when an
American leader was spontaneously created
in a Rally Phase, but he was immediately
wounded by mere small arms fire, and
then....and then....the third German Ran-
dom Event came to the fore, (Americans
had NONE), and 120mm firepower rained
down over 14 hexes, killing the new leader/
his squad and breaking the biggest stack of
Mills/Nard Co. remnants, who were stand-
ing around the freshly captured pillbox, grin-
ning like idiots - a picture of olive drab off
and running to the rear, cussing the Gen-
eral Staff, never to fight in North Africa
again.
Yet somehow, it was fun.
AN ERROR OF JUDGEMENT
I took advantage of a week off from work at the end of May to visit Trev Edwards
(BERSERK! organiser) for four and a half days of FTF ASL (for a person without a local
FTF opponent, such opportunities are heaven sent!). Also round for the Monday was our
resident Aussie vet Iain Mackay, and Trevs main FTF opponent Steve Thomas. Steve
wanted revenge for his defeat at my hands at BERSERK! in March, where a wounded
Japanese leader managed to survive numerous 36FP attacks to deny him control of CH34
The Lighthouse. He managed to get this by beating me in SP4 Point 270 (where I only
ever seemed able to roll 10s or 11s for MCs!) and TOT22 Franzens Roadblock (where
the CVP limit on the British cost me the game :-( ).
Steve was also able to come round on the following night, and looking for something
short to play Trev and I picked G35 Going to Church. I took the Germans, so I could get
the game set up before Steve arrived.
This is a small infantry scenario which sees a Canadian force attacking half a dozen
SS squads holed up around a church. The Canadians win immediately there is no Good
Order MMC in the church. I set up most of forces covering the approaches to the church,
hoping to cause maximum casualties as the Canadians crossed the open ground outside the
church. The problem was I only set up one MMC in the church.
Roll 1 - Wind Change DR 5(3c2w). NE.
Roll 2 - 16FP +1 vs my MMC and stack. DR 8(5c3w) +1 = 9. 1MC.
Roll 3 - Leader 1MC DR 12(6c6w), oh shit.
Roll 4 - Leader wound dr 6. OH SHIT!
Roll 5 - Hero 1MC DR 6(2c4w). Passes.
Roll 6 - Squad 1MC DR 5(3c2w). Passes.
Roll 7 - Squad LLMC DR 8(4c4w) +1 (leader lost) = 9. Broken, game over.
This is one of the quickest games of ASL ever, but I believe the prize for the quickest
loss goes to Ed Carter in a game of Aachens Pall against Michael McMain. The victory
conditions basically say The Americans win immediately when there are no Good Order
German units in building. Unfortunately for Ed, he mis-read the victory conditions and
thought that it was at the end of the scenario. So he set up his units in the street behind the
building with the intention of advancing in on turn one having avoided the American Prep
Fire. In other words, he set up with NO units in the building! After the roll for wind,
Michael declared victory!
I guess the moral of the story is - make sure you read and understand the VC!
12 VIEW FROM
HOW TO SPOT A YANK
Chris Maloney (American to the core)
My God, the bloody Yanks.
Thomas Wolfe
Like everything else in life, war has
both its good side and bad side. We, being
civilised Homo Sapiens, will automatically
be aghast (as Im sure some of you civilised
readers are) at the mere suggestion of there
being anything GOOD to say about war.
Lets stop and think about it though, there
must be something good about war, we hu-
mans seem to get into enough of the damned
things. My country alone, in its little more
than two hundred years of existence, has
been in fifteen wars that I can think of off
the top of my head.
So what good comes from war? Mar-
tial glory, for one. Without the undoubtedly
heroic exploits of our forebears, we wouldnt
have the Imperial War Museum, the West
Point Military Museum, and man others.
Films and books. A Bridge Too Far,
Patton, Zulu Dawn, Full Metal
Jacket, to name just a few of the better
ones. Games... ASL would not exist if not
for Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, and Hirohito
waking up one morning and saying You
know, Ruler of the World would be a nice
title to have. Without these evil lowlifes,
we wouldnt have this incredibly enjoyable
game to play.
Now the downside of war. You have
to go to God-forsaken places which you
never wished to go to in the first place and
wallow in the muck and mire (I for one was
in the Gulf War, and Lord the boredom).
Has anyone ever looked to their wife and
said Hey honey, for this years vacation,
how about Imphal? Also, if one is part of a
coalition army, you have to hang out with
and learn to get along with foreign people
who adamantly refuse to look and act like,
well you know... like you. ASL, being the
great simulation that it is, follows this faith-
fully. The only tournament my wife will let
me attend is in New Jersey, for Christ-sake!!
I have also had the pleasure of meeting
people with funny names who hail from
outside my country (Your roll, Sir Nigel
Blackcock III). Now that you UK ASLers
have your very own tournament, Intensive
Fire, youre going to come up against an
American sooner or later. To smooth things
over for all of us ASLers, Ive written this
article to forewarn you about the behavioural
traits of we Americans.
Americans are for the most part de-
scendants of immigrants. We used to be
strange foreigners just like you, but all the
nations with standards of civilised behaviour
kicked us out; and in America we landed.
We Yanks are all a mix of different nation-
alities. I for one, had a grandfather who
fought in the Wehrmacht, the other in the
US Army, a great-uncle in the Chindits, my
in-laws ancestors in the Pol-
ish Army, and my brothers
in-laws in the Philippine
Scouts. So I, while reading
A Bridge Too Far can hap-
pily root for all sides in-
volved. So we Americans are
very mixed up to begin with.
As Pete Townsend wrote, I
look all white, but my Dad
was black.
Americans are VERY
loud, if were in a room, we
like everyone to know. We
Americans are usually about
a sdiscreet as two water buf-
faloes rutting in a library. We
talk loud, chew loud, roll the
dice loud... were LOUD. Its
advisable to wear cotton in
the ears while playing an
American. Many writers
have noted this, such as Win-
ston Churchill. Asked about his meeting in
1941 with FDR he replied Ill take the
steak, medium rare. his ears were ringing
so loudly from being on a ship with Ameri-
cans he misunderstood the question! Dont
let this happen to you, or else you could wind
up making mistakes such as ordering steak
instead of lambchops or landing at Gallipoli.
Shakespeare was another writer who
noted the loudness of Americans. In his bril-
liant play Hamlet on Broadway (in Dolby
Stereo ) evil Prince Blandyweed IV Jnr
says upon meeting an American Varsooth!
Though art voluminous!! and cuts off the
Americans head. Then he ordered a steak.
Pete Townsend suffers from tinnitus, not
from standing in front of loudspeakers for
twenty odd years, but from being around
Americans for twenty odd years. Remem-
ber, hearing protection is essential.
Americans are egalitarians, we have
no class conscience to speak of. Conse-
quently, we treat everyone as if theyre com-
mon dirt. Wed be presented to Queen Eliza-
beth herself and, instead of bowing prop-
erly, we d give her a hug and say Hey Liz,
nice dress! Hows Chuck and the
grandkids?! Wheres the bathroom in this
place eh? (remember when Queen Eliza-
beth visited the woman in Detroit and the
woman HUGGED her!! Wasnt that
GREAT!?!) So when youre playing an
American, drop the Sir from in front of
your name, the average American wont be
impressed and to show it will bounce din-
ner rolls off your head during meal-time
(Hey, two extra points if you hit Sir
Reginald on the nose!! BONK!!). Also, due
to our ingrained sense of egalitarianism,
Americans very quickly drop whatever little
formality we possess. With one of us, youll
go from a polite handshake (Pleased to
meet you Sir Charles Goodtrot) to, on your
second meeting with the same person, a
hearty Hey Chuck, ya old $#@$!, how ya
doin!!! (HUG). Upon your rolling a 3 to
KIA our best leader, we wont say Jolly
good roll, Nigel but AAAAAHHHH!! You
$#@! stupid $@!&# lucky $%#$ing bas-
tard!! Dont be put off or frightened by this,
its our way of showing we like you. If an
American doesnt like, hell show it by be-
ing polite.
We Americans are universal in our
belief that if one speaks English slowly
A fine example of Brits and Yanks working together.
THE TRENCHES 13
THE JUNGLE IS NEUTRAL
Tom Repetti
MacArthur had sent two of his best brigadiers, Pat Casey and Harold George,
to survey the Papuan (New Guinea) terrain. They returned to Brisbane (Austra-
lia) shaken. Until now they had assumed that Bataan and Samar were covered
with the densest jungle in the world, nut New Guinea was unbelievable. They told
the General that they didnt see how human beings could live there, let alone fight
there.
It wasnt until they landed and ventured into the rain forest on steep, slip-
pery, root-tangled trails that the full horror of life there had struck them. Blades
of grass seven feet high could lay a mans hand open as quickly as a scalpel. the
jungle was studded with mangrove swamps and thick clumps of bamboo and palms.
Often the trail was covered with waist-deep slop. The air reeked with vile odors -
the stench of rotting undergrowth and of stink lilies. Little light penetrated the
thick matted screen of liana vines overhead, but when the rain stopped and the
sun appeared, vast suffocating waves of steam rose from the dank marshes.
American Ceasar, the biography of General MacArthur, by William
Manchester
I have always been surprised when
people express Fear and Loathing of get-
ting into the PTO. Its a personal thing, of
course, but I just dont find the PTO rules
to be that awful. The terrain is far more in-
tuitive than desert terrain, and the unique
qualities of the Japanese troops are very high
on the bang-per-buck scale. The PTO is flat-
out FUN. The IJA are unique and powerful
if played properly, the terrain is often rug-
ged and challenging, and the Allied Forces
are also way cool. No Conscript Russian
halfsquads here - when you dive into the
PTO, you get to command US Marines, Brit-
ish Elites, Gurkhas, Aussies, Phillippine
insurgents, and a host of other Rough Guys.
Neat stuff, and surprisingly accessible
for newbies since the PTO is dominated by
infantry. Its a shame that the PTO modules
are often at the end of the line of ones ASL
purchases. Only armour buffs have reason
to complain here; the PTO aint armour
country and the IJA armour isnt much to
write home about.
ROOTS, BLOODY ROOTS
G.1 throws a lot at you all at once,
but lets pass that PTC and dive into the
Basic PTO Terrain:
* Woods are Jungle (G2.). OK, we
can handle that. Both got trees.
* Orchards are Palm Trees (G4.). OK,
fine. Both got very sparse trees.
enough to a foreigner, theyll eventually
understand. Therefore, why go through all
that trouble of learning foreign language?
So you have American tourists throughout
the globe going (loudly, of course)
WHERE....IS....THE.....BATH....ROOM?
We take particular pleasure from doing this
in France. It doesnt work well in Germany,
though, the average German speaks English
with more fluency than the President of the
United States of America.
Americans have a love of material
things. Our culture is so geared towards the
attachment of wealth (read: owning lots of
useless junk) that some Americans, and you
can look this up if youd like cause Im not
making this part up, are being buried in
coffins equipped with a stereo system and
fully stocked bars. (sounds like a good idea
to me - Pete :-) ). Youll see this love of
gadgetry first hand in some American dice
towers. Ive seem dice towers that, in terms
of technical complexity, rival NASAs Space
Shuttles. Some Yanks counters storage trays
are so beautifully decorated as to make the
ceiling of the Cistine Chapel look like a
childs finger painting.
Lastly, Americans love to tell stories,
especially if it involves ourselves overcom-
ing adversity. If you politely tell a story about
how one time you advanced a conscript
squad into CC against a concealed elite
squad and won the game, the American will
(loudly, or course) say Well, thats great
Sir Prince Baron Muddlebreathe! But I re-
member one time when Id just gotten into
a horrible car accident, had temporarily lost
my eyesight along with most of my blood,
and though I kept passing out from the pain
of my crushed kneecap, won as the British
in Pegasus Bridge! Then, to drive home
his point, hell bounce a dinner roll off your
head.
So now that youve learned just a few
of the ways to spot an American, you hope-
fully wont be put off by our (to you) eccen-
tric behaviour. After all, with the UK ASL
scene growing the way it is, youll have to
deal with us eventually. We Yanks look for-
ward to many fun games of ASL with you
blokes, just remember to bring along you
hearing protection. Well bring the dinner
rolls.
14 VIEW FROM
* Grain is Kunai (G6.1). Hmm, Kunai
is... exactly like grain.
* Marsh is Swamp (G7.). Both are so
gnarly that you avoid them at all costs.
Um, when is this supposed to get
hard, Unca Bill?
* Brush is Bamboo (G3.). This one
seems to get people. Well, heck, the little
\|/ symbols in the Brush hexes kinda look
like Bamboo sticks (to me), so there
shouldnt be a problem remembering it.
Bamboo is one of the more unique terrain
types in ASL because of the G3.2 Entry re-
strictions. Bamboo hexes are great to de-
fend from because the attacker cant just
move into the hex - he can only advance in
vs Difficult Terrain, going CX in the pro-
cess, which is helpful in the all-important
Ambush dr for CC. On the down side,
theyre only +1 TEM and are susceptible to
Air Bursts.
* Roads are Paths (and Bridges are
Fords). Easy concept, but somehow hard to
get the old idea of a Road out of your head.
Just dont forget that you cant trace LOS
down the yellow road depiction anymore.
Sometimes roads will exist in the PTO via
SSR.
Well ignore the other PTO Terrain
types this time around, since Rice Paddies,
Beach etc. only crop up in specialised situ-
ations.
WELCOME TO THE
JUNGLE
Actually I lied to you earlier. Jungle
isnt entirely as simple as I made it out to
be. Jungle comes in two flavours: Light and
Dense. The scenario SSRs will usually tell
you which ones in effect; if not, then the
default is Dense.
Light Jungle is exactly like normal
ETO Woods except that its a 2-level LOS
Obstacle (and some minor stuff in G2.3-
G2.8).
Dense Jungle is the real McCoy. Its
TEM is +2, you can only stack 2 squads in
it, its so dense that you cant fire a mortar
from it, and you can Stray (G2.22) while
moving through it. Most importantly,
though, Dense Jungle is Inherent Terrain
(G2.2). It can be a big chore to adjust your
eyes to see Dense Jungle in the right way
on the map; LOS is restricted something
fierce and youll catch yourself saying
Dohhhh! a few times before you get it
down. (Memo to Avalon Hill: we could
squeeze a few extra bucks outta those ASL
crazies if we print up Dense Jungle ver-
sions of all the maps, heh heh heh.)
RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE
Back to the matter at hand. G.2
through G.6 have some very important
points about the PTO:
G.2 - Fortifications in jungle, kunai,
or bamboo are not revealed simply by an
enemy having LOS to them. Oooh, aah. Easy
to see the implications.
G.3 - Multi-hex firegroups involving
Dense Jungle, Kunai, Bamboo, or Swamp
are NA.
G.4 - If you move into a jungle, kunai,
or bamboo Location, you will not immedi-
ately reveal a defending unit in that Loca-
tion if it is Hidden and Stealthy. The impli-
cations are hugely important for many sce-
narios because Elite and First Line Japa-
nese are Stealthy and the Japanese are of-
ten given HIP units (G1.631). In these sce-
narios, the IJA can win simply by having a
unit hide out and avoid detection, popping
out at the last minute to claim victory.
Generally you only get burned by this
rule about seven or eight times before you
learn it. The only ways to reveal a HIP
stealthy defender in those kinds of terrain
are to either advance into its hex or Search
or probe by fire. Simply moving through an
area will not clear it.
G.5 - Recovery of SW is more diffi-
cult in Jungle, Kunai, or Bamboo (those
three types of terrain again. Theyre the
troublemakers). In the PTO, you dont
wanna be dropping a SW and trying to Re-
cover it.
G.6 - Ambush. Attackers advancing
into (you guessed it) Jungle, Kunai, or Bam-
boo must add +1 to their Ambush drm. Very
commonly used rule in the PTO because CC
is arguably the heart and soul of PTO com-
bat. Since Hand-to-Hand Combat is preva-
lent in the PTO and HtH uses the deadly
Red #s on the Close Combat Table, setting
up and winning Ambushes is important
here. With no net drms in your favor, you
have a 16% chance of winning an Ambush.
With a net -1 in your favor, this jumps to
25%. With a net -2, you Ambush 42% of
the time. With a net -3, you Ambush 58%
of the time. Every drm counts.
THE TRENCHES 15
So looking over the common PTO terrain, the most common features seem to be:
tall LOS obstacles;
difficult to move through;
usually +1 or +2 TEM;
vulnerable to HE or Mortar fire;
Concealment and Ambush terrain;
often Rally Terrain;
difficult to recover SW from.
Not too difficult was it...
PTO TERRAIN SUMMARY

Mark McGilchrist
WOODS - Jungle
Generally the same as European Woods except 2 levels high.
No LOS between adjacent jungle at night, No Illumination [EXC: Gunflash, Trip Flares, bypass]
Ambush Terrain: Attacker +1 drm
HIP Fortifications revealed as per night
+2 To Recovery dr [EXC: in vehicle, pillbox, trench or building]
No automatic detection of HIP Stealthy Infantry if not in pillbox, building or Gun
Dense Jungle
2 level LOS obstacle, Inherent Terrain, Concealment Terrain
+2 TEM / -1 vs. Airbursts
Stacking reduced to 2 squad equivalents
No Aerial LOS
Restricted entry to anything besides Infantry and Fully-tracked Vehicles
+2 to Bog DR
Straying in Interior Jungle hexes
Firegroup Restrictions, No Mortar (Indirect) Fire
No LOS between adjacent dense jungle at night, No Illumination [EXC: Gunflash, Trip Flares]
BRUSH - Bamboo
Bamboo is treated as Dense Jungle with the following changes;
+1 TEM; -1 TEM vs. HE type attacks
-1 Rally DRM only if in pillbox, not required rout terrain
Entry via Minimum move, Low Crawl or Advance vs. Difficult Terrain only. [EXC: moving along Path/TB, may not exit bamboo
through non path/TB hexside]
Straying in Interior hexes
Counts as 2 search locations
Guns never emplaced
Only Allowed Fortifications are pillboxes, mines and Panjis
Because it is treated as dense Jungle, all the stacking, ambush, detection, recovery restrictions mention above still apply
MARSH - Swamp
Marsh hexes adjacent to a jungle hex
Treated as non-flooded Marsh with the following changes;
2 Level LOS obstacle; NOT Inherent
+1 TEM / -1 Airbursts
Halves HE attacks [EXC: Mortars, Vehicle targets]
Bog in adjacent hexes with elevation less than or equal to Base Level [EXC: Roads]
Firegroup Restrictions
BRUSH - Kunai
As European Brush
Ambush Terrain, Concealment Terrain
Firegroup Restrictions
ORCHARD - Palm Trees
As European In-Season orchards
Riders are allowed through Palm Trees
BUILDINGS - Wooden Buildings
As European buildings EXCEPT if Single Story with two or more separate, complete building depiction in the same hex. These are
Huts!
Many Wooden buildings in the PTO end up being Huts:
Treated as a Single Story Wooden building with these exceptions
+1 TEM unless Collapsed
1 Level LOS Hindrance (never an Obstacle) IF the LOS crosses the Hut depiction
Collapses with any KIA result from a HE attack
Collapses due to vehicle entry/CA change of Location.
Collapsed Huts require everybody to take a PTC with Morale =8
Huts burn rather easily, including virtually anytime the Location is targeted by Small Arms PBF/TPBF, MOL, MG, IFE, DC or HE
attack and coloured dr on the IFT is a 1. The only good news is that non-PBF Small Arms, AP HE Equivalency and Residual
Firepower attacks dont light them up. Desperation Penalties for Backblast do not apply, but a Flame is automatically placed
in the Hut
Treat Collapsed Huts just like Brush, except more flammable
7 x~
7x5V7q
q5~I ~0
70~q...
Ian Daglish
20 years? Is it really that long ago!
Here are two quotes, both from late
1977, when a game called Squad Leader
had been previewed at Origins, released for
mail order, and was hastily having a num-
ber of production glitches fixed before be-
ing released retail.
John Hill (Designer)
Will Squad Leader become a clas-
sic? No, I dont think so. It is simply too
complex, and one of the requirements of a
classic is that it be a good beer and pretzel
game.
Squad Leader is too intense for ca-
sual playing. The margin for error is almost
nil in terms of tactical mistakes. You can-
not fudge your way through. One turn of
mental laxness and WHAM you take 70%
casualties.
And that brings us to another strike
against Squad Leader: it has the highest
cruelty factor of any of the tactical games.
By this I mean everything I just said about
the one mistake. But even if you do every-
thing right, the game can punish you. Ran-
dom luck - fate - plays a heavy part. A bad
die roll and your best leader can catch a stray
round in the head; or a key machine gun
can jam, run out of ammo just when the
enemy is making his big attack. This is cru-
elty, and many wargamers cannot handle
such cruelty.
As one player observed about Squad
Leader, I really dont know how to win it
yet, but I know three dozen ways of losing
it!.
Don Greenwood (Developer)
Squad Leader was better done than
Third Reich, simply because Hill had a bet-
ter developer, and one who was no longer
intimidated by Company-declared dead-
lines, and took the necessary time to finish
the game the right way. I should know - I
developed both games.
Now, if Squad Leader proves to be
even half as popular as THIRD REICH...
16 VIEW FROM
THE SOLDIERS OF THE EMPEROR
Tom Reppetti
The IJA are wacky, wild, strange, and
fun. Their unique characteristics make them
one of the most powerful and interesting
nationalities to command. They cannot be
played like ETO armies; the rules will
penalise you if you try that. But if you take
the time to appreciate the new tactics that
are opened up by the IJA rules, youll use
the IJA to its fullest potential and enjoy the
heck out of it.
Right off the bat, I will reveal the se-
cret to the IJA:
They are a Control Freaks dream
come true.
Thats right. These guys will do ex-
actly what you tell them. They may suffer
horribly in the process, but they will die try-
ing to fulfil your orders. This is in opposi-
tion to every other nationality, whose squads
will break and run away if you tell them to
do something stupid or dangerous. The IJA,
however, dont break - when they fail a MC,
they Step Reduce but they keep on chug-
ging. If you want them to get from Point A
to Point B, somebody will get there. That
once proud platoon of Elite 4-4-8 squads
may be reduced to a rabble of second-line
halfsquads once they reach point B, but
THEY DID GET THERE. Lets hope they
accomplished something good in the pro-
cess.
The implications of this are HUGE.
You cant really appreciate it until you see
it in action, so I guess some examples might
the most value out of them that you can,
because their strength is fleeting.
While its impressive to see IJA units
Step Reduce instead of Break, remember
your Zen training, Grasshopper. The reed
that bends with the wind will survive the
storm. The strong but inflexible oak tree will
shatter in the wind. When a British 4-5-8
breaks, its temporarily out of action, but it
can Rally and return to the game at full
strength. When an IJA 4-4-8 fails an MC
and Step Reduces, it becomes a 3-4-8 and
can never regain 4-4-8 status again. If that
3-4-8 squad step reduces, it becomes a
halfsquad; two MC failures for the IJA is
the same as one Casualty Reduction. By the
end of the game, this adds up.
STEP REDUCTION
As we saw earlier, when IJA units fail
an MC, they generally Step Reduce instead
of break (G1.11). Squads flip to their red-
banded Step Reduced side, Step Reduced
squads become halfsquads, and halfsquads
break. Along the way, ELR applies normally,
so that a First Line squad that fails a MC by
more than its ELR will become a Step Re-
duced Second Line squad.
The Japanese Step Reduction Chart
shows how Step Reduction and ELR works
for armed non-berserk squads; unarmed or
berserk squads get CRd normally. Casu-
alty Reduction results apply normally in
applicable situations.
There are a few things to note from
be in order.
* When an IJA squad occupies a VC
building, you cant just break it and then
run up and take the building. It wont break.
Itll sit there and be slowly whittled away,
first to a Step-Reduced Squad, then to a
halfsquad, then finally to a broken
halfsquad. In the meantime, its firing back
at you. The IJA on the defence are great at
stand-and-die actions.
* The IJA can and will run straight
up to and through a defensive line. If you
first fire at them and make them fail a MC,
THEYLL JUST KEEP COMING. They
have an awesome weapon in the Banzai, and
if they want to get to a particular spot,
theyre gonna get there. The most you can
hope for is to hurt them along the way and
be prepared for them to penetrate into your
backfield. The IJA love to move, move,
move, and they can totally screw up your
safe rear areas where you normally ex-
pect to be able to rally broken units. The
IJA dont have awesome firepower, but they
sure can rack up the KIAs for Failure to
Rout.
* Because the IJA are built for hard
use, they get used hard. Eventually their
strength will get eroded by Step Reduction
until by the end of the game they are a
disorganised rabble of step-reduced 2nd-line
halfsquads, crews, and wounded leaders.
THIS IS NORMAL. The IJA are not sup-
posed to have many intact units at the end
of the game. Use and abuse them and get
T
H
E

T
R
E
N
C
H
E
S
1
7
JAPANESE UNITS STEP REDUCTION CHART
UNIT TYPE
MC FAILED
Attack break
1 Sniper Attack dr
MC FAILED
Other Break
MC FAILED
Attack Break
with ELR Loss
MC FAILED
Other Break
with ELR Loss
CASUALTY
REDUCTIO
E: 4-4-8 E: 3-4-8 * 2 (E: 2-3-8 HS) 1: 3-4-7 * 2 (1: 2-3-7 HS) (E: 2-3-8 HS
E: 3-4-8 * E: 2-3-8 HS (E: 2-3-8 HS) 1: 2-3-7 HS (1: 2-3-7 HS) (E: 2-3-8 HS
1: 4-4-7 1: 3-4-7 * 2 (1: 2-3-7 HS) 2: 2-3-7 * 2 (2: 1-3-7 HS) (1: 2-3-7 HS
1: 3-4-7 * 1: 2-3-7 HS (1: 2-3-7 HS) 2: 1-3-7 HS (2: 1-3-7 HS) (1: 2-3-7 HS
2: 3-4-7 2: 2-3-7 * 2 (2: 1-3-7 HS) C: 2-2-6 * 2 (C: 1-2-6 HS) (2: 1-3-7 HS
2: 2-3-7 * 2: 1-3-7 HS (2: 1-3-7 HS) C: 1-2-6 HS (C: 1-2-6 HS) (2: 1-3-7 HS
C: 3-3-6 C: 2-2-6 * 2 (C: 1-2-6 HS) (C: 1-2-6 HS) 2 (C: 1-2-6 HS) (C: 1-2-6 HS
C: 2-2-6 * C: 1-2-6 HS (C: 1-2-6 HS) (C: 1-2-6 HS) (C: 1-2-6 HS) (C: 1-2-6 HS
Leader Wounded w Wounded w Wounded r w Wounded w Wounded e w
SMC Wounded w Wounded w Wounded w Wounded w Wounded w
Crew 2-2-8 Crew 1-2-8 * (Crew 1-2-7) Crew 1-28 * (Crew 1-2-7) Eliminated
Crew 1-2-8 * (Crew 1-2-7) (Crew 1-2-7) (Crew 1-2-7) (Crew 1-2-7) Eliminated
Crew 1-2-7 (Crew 1-2-7) (Crew 1-2-7) (Crew 1-2-7) (Crew 1-2-7) Eliminated
NOTES
Attack Break MC Failure due to attack on the IFT, collateral attack, bombardment, FPF, "breaking" due to KIA result
Other Break MC Failure due to Bailing Out, Voluntary Break, Wreck Check, Para Landing, WP MC, OVR Prevention MC, Panji MC
* Reduced Strength side of the indicated MMC
HS HS of the indicated type (break and rally in the normal manner)
( - ) Broken MMC of the indicated type
e A Leader who suffers a Casualty MC (A10.31) is eliminated instead
r Japanese Leaders are not subject to Replacement
w An already wounded heroic SMC (including a TH-Hero) is eliminated
Chart provided courtesy of Paul and Andrwew Saunders
18 VIEW FROM
There is also a +2 drm to the Search
dr vs. Japanese, so theyre hard to find us-
ing Scouts.
These all make the Japanese very
powerful on the defence, since the attacker
must feel out the Japanese position before
the attack.
Heres an example of how the IJA and
HIP and CC go together in a deadly combi-
nation. Say youve got a US 6-6-7 and an 8-
1 that advances into a Jungle hex. Say that
hex contained a HIP IJA first line halfsquad
(a 2-3-7) which is now placed on the board
under a concealment counter. You do the
Ambush roll with a net drm of +0 (-1 leader,
+1 advance into Jungle). The IJA HS does
the Ambush roll with a net drm of -3 (-1
stealthy, -2 concealed). The HS has a 58%
chance to Ambush you, and if he does, he
can declare Hand To Hand CC. His attack
will go through on the 1-4 column of the
CC table using the red HtH numbers, a -1
drm for the Ambush and a -1 for Japanese
HtH. If he rolls a 6 or less (a
42% probability), he KIAs
your whole stack. ONE
LOUSY HALFSQUAD. This
is how the IJA can ruin your
whole day.
BANZAI ! ! !
Human Waves made
easy! Through dense jungle
terrain, with a morale bonus
and troops that step reduce, it
is very easy to overrun defen-
sive positions, allowing the
Japanese to quickly punch a
hole through defensive lines
and penetrate into the rear ar-
eas. Used wisely, Banzai
Charges may actually save
Japanese units, since it will force the de-
fenders out of their positions and hopefully
force a counterattack by outnumbered de-
fenders trying to restore the situation.
In reference to the use em hard
concept earlier, the IJA is given a certain
number of leaders in their OOB, usually
with the idea that theyll get off a certain
number of Banzais during the game. If you
coddle your IJA leaders and dont use them
in Banzais, youre not using one of the IJAs
great strengths to your advantage. Remem-
ber that IJA leaders which fail a MC dont
break - they are Wounded. If they survive
the Wound Severity dr, then theyre flipped
over to their Wounded side, which lowers
their morale and raises their leadership
DRM by one. Again, IJA leaders are very
powerful but their habit of leading from the
front tends to get them killed.
this chart:
* 2nd Line Step Reduced squads (2-
3-7s) are full squads! Its weird to see them
toting around SW and firing them in addi-
tion to their Inherent Arms, but there you
go.
* IJA crews step reduce like other
units; the final step is a broken armour crew.
* IJA Riders are not forced to Bail
Out when they fail an MC. They simply Step
Reduce. Waaaay powerful. IJA Riders can
penetrate deep into enemy lines and get
dropped off (even Bailing Out) in Good
Order.
* A leader who breaks takes a Wound
dr. A Wounded leader who breaks dies.
THE FINER POINTS
IJA Crews - G1.611 pretty much dic-
tates that every MMG,
HMG, and ATR in every
IJA OOB will be assigned
a Crew to man it. OK fine;
I enjoy having my deci-
sions made for me.
TH Heroes - TH
Heroes (G1.421) can be
pretty effective against
armour. With a 5 CCV, no
PAATC required, and a
50% shot at an ATM (-3
to CC DR), hes got about
a 50% chance of killing
any tank around. If you set
them up/generate them
cleverly, you can make
Allied armour very, very,
cautious, if not dead.
DC Heroes - DC Heroes (G1.424) are
pure evil. They can only be used in scenarios
where the IJA gets some DCs.
Basically theyre a 1-man DC-totin
Banzai, and if you dont wound or KIA them,
theyre gonna drop some nasty DC music
on your defensive line before blowing them-
selves to kingdom come!
They soak up defensive fire like crazy,
but their greatest use is as a threat-in-be-
ing; until theyre used and gone, the de-
fender has to prepare for them every turn.
IJA Leaders - IJA Leaders (G1.41) are
gigantically precious units. Not only do they
raise the ML of units stacked with them by
1, but they negate DM like Commissars.
Most importantly, you need an IJA
leader to initiate a Banzai Charge (G1.5),
which is basically the IJA Human Wave.
When the last IJA leader dies, the Allied
player breathes a huge sigh of relief, for he
knows that he no longer has to worry about
a Banzai.
And although these are Japanese, try
to keep at least one behind for rally pur-
poses. Those squads do find their way to
broken half-squads with greater frequency
than might be expected at first glance, and
a couple of HS combined into another squad
can be a big advantage (I thought that guy
was dead!).
Morale - G1.62 notes that IJA are
immune to PAATCs and the NTC for In-
fantry OVR (A4.15). They do not surrender
in the RtPh. If Encircled, their Morale is
not lowered by one. And when they undergo
HoB, Japanese almost always go Berserk.
Ai yai yai.
Stealth - All Japanese Elite and First
line troops are stealthy; Second Line are
Normal; and only Conscripts are Lax. This
means that Japanese will Stray less often,
and Ambush more often, particularly in the
Jungle.
HIP - G1.631 notes that in daytime
scenarios, the IJA may use HIP for <= 10%
of his squad equivalents in his onboard set-
up OOB (and any SMC/SW that set up with
them). At Night, this is raised to 25%. In
the PTO, there is plenty of concealment ter-
rain to utilise.
They also get to set Pillboxes up HIP,
including contents, absolutely free in most
Jungle terrain, with an escape tunnel to boot.
As the final insult, even if units move into
their hex they are not automatically detected
if they are stealthy, unless in a pillbox, man-
ning a gun or in the CCPh. Similarly, due to
the density of the terrain, most other fortifi-
cations will be difficult to detect until the
attackers are virtually on top of them.
THE TRENCHES 19
Banzais are more powerful than Rus-
sian Human Waves because you dont need
multiple MMC in at least 3 adjacent hexes
to initiate one. All you need is an IJA leader
(even a wounded one) and any number of
MMCs that you want, as long as all of the
Banzaiers are in adjacent Locations. Its
very impressive to see a large Banzai chain
in action, and very hard to keep it from hap-
pening. Dont try to prevent them; try to
make them as costly for the IJA as possible.
On the up side, Banzaiers have a +1
Morale, dont Pin, and get 8 MF. And, of
course, Banzaiing squads dont break when
they fail a MC; they just get Step Reduced
and keep on coming. Shudder. If you work
it right, you can have a new Banzaier enter
a particular defenders Location in succes-
sive Movement Impulses, forcing the de-
fender to take multiple FPF shots and pos-
sibly break as a result. Best of all, you get
to scream BANZAI!!!! when you launch
one. Aint life grand?
On the down side, Banzais are a big
drain on IJA manpower. Great morale or not,
theres no getting around the fact that the
Banzai is running right up to the defensive
line and will get hit with Point Blank Fire,
Triple PBF, and FFNAM. Its very easy to
throw away units in a wasteful Banzai.
On top of that, Banzaiers are Lax,
which makes it imperative that they avoid
Advancing into Ambush Terrain; the +1
Ambush drm for being Lax combined with
the +1 drm for advancing into Jungle, Bam-
boo, or Kunai means that the Banzaiers are
likely to be Ambushed. Try to figure it so
that all of the Banzaiers enter enemy hexes
in the MPh or that none of them have to
advance into an enemy hex in the APh. Not
easy, at least for me, but definitely one of
the great challenges of the PTO.
What terrain is good or bad to Banzai
through? You generally want terrain that
doesnt take many MF to enter, has a non-
zero TEM, and is a Hard Hindrance (i.e.,
one that lowers the FP of a Firelane, as op-
posed to Soft Hindrances which do not
affect Firelanes). The table summarises
these details for the most common POT ter-
rain.
Note that Banzaiing through Smoke
is often a nice option - the smoke will add 1
MF to the COT and wont affect a Firelane,
but will add a nice +1, +2, or +3 Hindrance
to defensive fire.
ORDNANCE AND ARMOUR
While most light mortars verge on
totally useless, the Japanese 50* isnt nearly
so bad.
They almost always fight in some
version of the jungle, so airburst terrain
abounds. Much more importantly, they have
WP available at ranges 1-5 hexes. This
magnifies their usefulness manifold, since
in close in combat (such as in the jungle or
cities) they can be used to WP a hex with a
critical firebase, not only blinding them but
also inflicting NMCs. Even the US 60*
doesnt have WP until 1945, so the Japa-
nese have a definite advantage in this re-
gard.
The other Japanese ordnance is OK,
although the AT guns are pretty useless
against anything but very early Allied
armour - TH-Heroes tend to be just as ef-
fective. Set them up on the flanks and hope
for a side/rear shot.
The AA and ART guns are respect-
able, but still not up to the Allied equiva-
lents, for the most part.
The armour is horrible. Dont even
think about a straight-up armoured slugfest
with anybody, even the British. Theyll tear
you apart. No radios, no real weapons; its
a fairly depressing experience. While this
changes against the Chinese (giving you a
use for Japanese armour), be prepared to
lose any armour you get. Most of it can be
penetrated quite easily with an early-model
BAZ.
USING THE JAPANESE
Chris Farrell
The Japanese are very tough in the
short term - they still have a combat strength
after a break, whereas the Western nations
dont - but in the long term their troops tend
to disappear. By the end of a scenario, most
Japanese commanders will be looking at the
mapboard wondering where did all my
troops go?!?. Its very easy to keep your
troops moving, but once the
MCs start to pile up, your
troops can be whittled away
appallingly quickly.
ATTACKING
The Germans fre-
quently win through fire-
power; the Japanese never do.
Against their two primary opponents, Com-
monwealth/GB and US, they have decidedly
inferior FP on both the squad level and in
support weapons.
On the attaack keep moving. Fre-
quently, the goal will be close combat if the
terrain is close enough, but otherwise you
have to just keep moving.
Dont let your point troops worry to
much about unmodified 8FP or lower at-
tacks; trade those for positions from with
you can infiltrate his lines.
Dont let the enemy rally his units.
An important tactic for this is denying rout
paths. Getting behind broken units is the
easiest way to cause casualties, and nobody
does it better than the Japanese. Step Re-
duction means that someone (even if that
someone already failed two morale checks)
will get behind the defenders (whether by
flanking them or battering their way through
the middle). This should also be a primary
goal of many a banzai.
The key to getting this is to send three
or four units, hoping that one will get
through. In fact, youre often better off ad-
vancing an HS in. Banzais also help, espe-
cially if you dont have to cross lots of open
ground to get where youre going.
Of course the challenge is breaking
enemy units in the first place, given the
weakness of typical Japanese firepower.
All too often the Japanese can only
maintain a coherent offence/defence for a
limited time. After that, broken units, dead
leaders, malfunctioned support weapons,
etc., combine to break the coherency down
into little groups of attacking units. Usu-
ally, the game is won by the person who
holds his forces together the longest.
The Japanese can maintain their co-
herency considerably longer than anyone
else, so when the line breaks, you should
have units there to sprint through the gaps.
Play very aggressively.
DEFENDING
On the defence, western nations typi-
cally employ fall-back type defences, where
the second line of defenders is formed from
the broken units of the first line, and then
they can cover the first line as it falls back.
This approach, obviously, requires some
modifications for the Japanese. While put-
ting everything up front can work, the al-
lies always have superior firepower, so
theyll eventually crack the line.
What tends to work best is a series of
strongpoints with only one or two squads,
plus maybe a LMG. The Allies will fre-
quently have to reduce these strongholds to
advance and if they are well placed this can
Terrain MF TEM
Hard/Soft
Hindrance? Better
Light/Dense Jungle 2 +1/+2 (blocks FL)
|
Palm Trees 1 0 Hard
|
Huts 2 +1 Soft
|
Open Ground 1 0 Soft
\|/
Kunai 2 0 Soft
Worse
20 VIEW FROM
JUNGLE WARFARE IN ASL
Mark McGilchrist
Other approaches to Port Moresby (New Guinea) having failed, the Japa-
nese now attempted the incredible, an offensive over the Own Stanleys (moun-
tains).
At first the small rear guard of the digger militiamen (ANZACs), who re-
mained in the range until August 8 (1942), assumed that the enemy soldiers climb-
ing toward them were merely patrolling. To their astonishment, massed infantry-
men, manhandling mortars, machine guns, and field pieces, crept slowly up the
slimy, zigzagging, hundred-mile Kokoda Trail.
In four weeks Major General Tomitaro Horiis fourteen thousand men had
crossed the raging Kumusi River. Five jungle-trained battalions leapfrogged one
another into Isurava Village, fifty-five miles from their starting point, and pushed
down the precipitous southern slopes toward Imita Ridge and Ioribaiwa, twenty
miles from the bluffs around Port Moresby.
How many succumbed in this heroic endeavor will never be known. Many
perished in the Kumusi, and others disappeared in quicksand or plunged into
gorges.
In places the winding trail, a foot wide at most, simply disappeared. It took an
hour to cut through a few yards of vegetation. The first man in a file would hack
away with a machete until he collapsed of exhaustion; then the second man would
pick up the machete and continue, and so on.
In that climate the life expectancy of the men who lost consciousness and were
left behind was often measured in minutes.
American Ceasar, the biography of General MacArthur, by William
Manchester
Jungle warfare in modern warfare first surfaced in World War II, and created new
tactical problems related to the closeness of the terrain, the difficulty of movement through
the terrain, particularly for the modern motorised armies that were dominating the Euro-
pean and North African theatres of war. Indeed, air transport and supply became the pre-
ferred solution for these armies, leading to Dien Bien Phu and the air-mobile units in
Vietnam. World War II pioneered these concepts of air mobility and supply, but right down
at the squad level, men still had to move through the terrain, and effectively engage the
enemy at the end.
Due to the closeness of jungle terrain, and the small land masses of some of the
islands, combat unit sizes were smaller than the European standard, with brigades/regi-
ments being the larger organisation of deployment, whereas in European theatres this would
have been divisional deployment. Similarly, at the bottom end, platoons and even patrols
became the units of engagement, whereas the European theatres tended towards company
or even battalion strength attacks and defences. This has very significant effects on the
deployment of heavy weapons, on junior leadership and on tactics and morale. What I hope
to cover in this article is how this is rel-
evant to ASL.
After the disasters of December 1941 and
early 1942, the Allied countries started to
acknowledge the Japanese dominance of the
jungle, something they attributed wrongly
to the jungle training given Japanese sol-
diers. In fact the Japanese High Command
had expected to fight in Manchuria against
the Russians, so very few Japanese units
were jungle trained.
However, Japanese tactics of encircle-
ment and night attacks, the emphasis on
sniping and the generally lower level of
mechanisation gave Japanese units better
cross-country performance, and a degree of
independent infiltrating and sniping that de-
moralised the Allied soldiers. The dreaded
take a while. Then, make up a goal line
defence with whatever is left. Make him
sweat the HIPs while he advances, then
make him trade shots with you at the final
objective.
The Japanese can be more aggressive
with HIPs, since they can fail a couple MCs
and still get out quite alive, whereas a US
unit that gets bypassed, revealed and bro-
ken, had better have inflicted some dam-
age.
Also note that Jungle and Kunai grass
is especially lethal terrain since you dont
have to reveal yourself if the enemy tries to
walk through.
Once most of the attackers are re-
vealed, ? counters become quite power-
ful, since they provide a -2 on the ambush
dr.
However, the Japanese greatest asset
is their mobility, so never overlook the pos-
sibility of a counter-attack, if you have
enough force.
Use harassing units as much as pos-
sible if the approach to the objective area is
long, using individual units to attack, stall
the advance for a little while, and retreat,
gain concealment, and pull the same trick
again.
HAND TO HAND COMBAT
Although the Japanese are good in
CC, HtH tends to result in mutual elimina-
tion, and because they rarely have a numeri-
cal advantage, CC isnt always a good idea
for the Japanese.
The best time is when you have an
ambush advantage, but on the attack this is
hard because of the jungle penalty. On the
defence, though, watch out!
Once into CC, the ideal odds for the
Japanese are usually about 1:2 (!!!), simply
THE TRENCHES 21
Banzai attacks which would have been vir-
tually suicidal over open country, became a
shattering de-moralising charge in the close
terrain. Overall, Allied soldiers and lead-
ers needed jungle training to acclimate
themselves to the jungle, and to counter the
inferiority to the Japanese Allied soldiers
felt in the jungle. Teaching that the jungle
is neutral promotes morale, rather than com-
petence.
TACTICS
The relatively short ranges in the
jungle, right down to Point Blank, encour-
age firepower, particularly inherent fire-
power.
Inherent Firepower is good for two
reasons: it can be used very effectively for
point blank defence, and gives better
chances of survival and destruction of your
opponent in Melee. This very accurately and
realistically reflects the use and desire for
handheld automatic weapons among jungle
troops, in particular the Allied troops. Un-
fortunately this is often something the ASL
commander cannot choose in his OB, but it
is a principle worth remembering, since it
can make strongpoints difficult to overcome.
MGs are at a relative disadvantage
because of the restricted fields of fire (in
the general close terrain sense), as well as
in the A9.21 Fields of Fire sense. MMGs
and HMGs are best in fixed positions look-
ing through Kunai or Palm Trees, better still
Emplaced in those terrain types with a good
field of fire. Alternatively they may be po-
sitioned behind Ponds or Streams to take
advantage of the better LOS. LMGs, being
more portable, can be used as Firepower
enhancers for critical positions.
Mortars are at a relative advantage
over short distances, in particular the Japa-
nese mortars. Many terrain types are sus-
ceptible to airbursts or TEM vs. HE attacks.
The hardest part is finding a firing position.
Dont forget Spotted Fire. Light mortars are
generally better, since they can be easily
repositioned.
Assault Weapons such as FT and DC
are much more practical in jungle terrain,
where delivery of these weapons is much
more difficult in open terrain. Since ranges
often sink to point-blank, these weapons are
deadly, especially in the hands of the Japa-
nese!
LATW are relatively useful in jungle
warfare, being able to reposition themselves
more quickly than AT Guns, and mostly
immune to CA change DRM. Since tanks
are relatively scarce, AT weapons will gen-
erally be fairly scarce, and usually will only
be encountered when enemy AFV are
present.
The close terrain makes LATW the
practical AT solution, but are rarely useful
against infantry. HEAT ammo is virtually
useless in the jungle except vs. AFV.
Concealment is of primary impor-
tance in the jungle, since it is the most prac-
tical way to limit the amount of firepower
received and to give the best chances of
ambush, of at least not being ambushed.
Since most jungle warfare casualties will
be from PBF and CC, Concealment directly
aids both of these endeavours.
DEFENSIVE TACTICS
In defence, the common defensive
zones of the European theatre such as streets
and open ground are non-existent or severely
limited. Certainly if these defensive zones
exist, use them, but often they represent a
small part of the defensive zone, and may
be badly compromised by the other terrain
which provides attack avenues.
Probably the most important defen-
sive principle is to maintain a line of de-
fenders, falling back if necessary, but effec-
tively shielding the whole front. In such
close terrain, if a gap is established, the at-
tackers will penetrate the line, and begin
outflanking defensive positions.
Jungle defenders should be placed so
that each defensive position covers the two
hexes immediately in front of the position
(Primary Frontal Defence Zone [FDZ]).
These two hexes should link up to the Pri-
mary FDZ immediately in front of the posi-
tions on either side, and so on across the
defensive zone. In likely attack avenues the
Primary FDZ should overlap with those
units on either side. In thinly defended
zones, the FDZ will include 3-4 hexes ex-
tending around the sides of the defensive
positions, the Secondary FDZ. The idea is
that if each unit can First Fire, Final Fire
and FPF to protect their FDZ, the attacker
cannot bypass the defenders, nor attack any
particular position with sufficient strength
to overwhelm that position. As the terrain
opens up, so does the FDZ of each defen-
sive position, since the overlapping fire
zones provide defensive advantages.
More common jungle defensive zones
are Ponds and Streams which provide a
cleared killing zone, and a movement ob-
stacle. Unfortunately, attackers will rarely
simply move into these zones, but will clear
the opposite bank first using Prep and De-
fensive Fire. This is where skulking be-
comes important, since it can limit the De-
fensive Fire of your opponent. In addition,
it is worth keeping some concealed units/
dummies 1 hex behind the pond or stream
bank to advance up as your Pond and Stream
defenders lose concealment. By cycling units
in and out of the line, a steady stream of
concealed defenders can be maintained.
Another common jungle defensive
zone is a crest line. Although hills are fairly
unsatisfactory for extended LOS due to the
hills themselves being jungle terrain, or the
surrounding jungle being so tall and pro-
viding so many blind zones, crest lines are
good defensive zones. Usually the crest hex
will include 2MF terrain, which costs 4MF
when moving to a higher level. This means
The dark hexes show the Primary Zone, while
the lighter show the Secondary Zone.
The above example shows how Primary
Frontal Defence Zones link yup to cover
defenders in the jungle.
22 VIEW FROM
that most attacking units cannot use Assault
Movement or must make an Advance vs.
Difficult Terrain to ascend hill crest. Since
this is the best time to PBF them, positions
one back from the crest line are better than
most.
Since the attacker will generally have
to move up towards the defender, looking
for choke points in the terrain is another
natural defence zone. Swamp, Marsh, Bam-
boo and Ponds provide some very difficult
or impossible terrain to move through, with
the attacker preferring easier terrain to keep
concealment. By guarding the choke points,
the defender can force them to either attack
across a narrow front, or to delay the attacker
by forcing them to move around the posi-
tion, or make some Minimum Moves to at-
tack across a broad front.
Defence should be a series of layers.
If the scenario is balanced, then the attacker
will almost certainly have enough resources
to overcome your first defensive line, par-
ticularly as they can choose to concentrate
on a few points of attack. After initial con-
tact, the defender should consider withdraw-
ing to a secondary line. Indeed, perhaps the
initial contact line should be the secondary
line, with the primary line behind it. In any
case, do not sacrifice your defenders to hold
pointless ground, withdraw and concentrate!
OFFENSIVE TACTICS
Probably the most difficult aspect of
offensive jungle warfare is moving into po-
sitions to effectively engage the enemy. In
European warfare, the relative openness of
the terrain allowed several units from dif-
ferent positions to engage a single enemy at
one time, but similarly allowed the defender
much greater overlap of defensive zones.
Typically, several defenders must be sup-
pressed before any advance is made. In the
close jungle terrain, the relationship be-
tween the attacker and defender is much
more direct. Defenders set-up chains of de-
fensive positions either across a front, or
around an area. Each group of attackers gen-
erally move in to attack a single defensive
position, with that defensive position being
relatively isolated except having flank pro-
tection to prevent movement behind the
defenders position.
Your typical jungle attack involves
moving one or two groups of units, usually
concealed, up adjacent to an enemy posi-
tion. The defender fires as the attacker en-
ters their Primary FDZ, using First fire,
Subsequent fire & FPF. If the defender is
well enough armed, he will drive off the
attack. If the attackers are brave enough and
well armed, they will overwhelm the de-
fenders position. The attacker can gain a
considerable advantage if they can increase
the number of adjacent hexes that they can
attack through. A single hex will be the
focus of all the defenders firepower, every
extra hex dilutes that firepower across the
attack as a whole. Certainly a single loca-
tion of attackers may take a beating, but the
cost to the defender of ignoring the other
hexes will be high!
The Attacker should therefore look for
positions to attack where at least two hexes
can be approached without fire from other
defenders, preferably with concealed units.
If three adjacent hexes can be employed,
then SW CA fixing may be employed, with
4+ hexes, encirclement and rout surrender/
failure to rout become options. Sometimes
these are not easy to establish, particularly
with Dummy ? Stacks/HIP, but this should
be the principle of attack. Usually the at-
tacker will need to have a first wave of at-
tack to establish the strength and location
of the defensive line, followed by a second
wave of assault troops. Using HS search
troops is one method, although quite diffi-
cult against the Japanese +2 Search drm,
and you will always search the hex the unit
is in. The more traditional searching is to
move forward until fired upon, using ex-
pendable HS scouts. However, this can have
real complications against the Japanese,
since Stealthy Japanese (i.e. most of them)
units need not be revealed by a unit in their
location if in jungle, Kunai or Bamboo ex-
cept at the start of CCPh. Just moving
through the location is not enough. The rule
of thumb is to assume theres a HIP Jap there
unless you have positive proof to the con-
trary.
AVENUES OF APPROACH
Attackers will generally want to con-
centrate their attacks to some extent to
achieve local superiority of numbers and
firepower. Obviously they will also want
to attack over favourable (to them) terrain,
whilst being difficult for the defender to
defend. Although the movement restrictions
of jungle terrain are significantly under-
played in ASL, there are nonetheless some
quite difficult terrain types to move through,
such as Swamp and Bamboo, which may
create choke points in the terrain. Other ter-
rain, like jungle hills and streams may sim-
ply take too long for the scenario Victory
Conditions. The composition of your force
may affect your choice of avenue of ap-
proach., e.g vehicles along a road; or through
the Kunai.
High firepower and units with
armoured support will general want to ap-
proach through relatively open terrain such
as Kunai and Palm Trees to maximise their
firepower advantages. Ultimately these
units will have to close with the enemy, but
try to reduce them first by using firepower.
Typically these will be U.S. troops. Units
with less firepower and without armoured
support will generally want more concealed
avenues of approach, typically down jungle
paths, and along jungle woodlines to ne-
gate the possibility of straying, or along
jungle ridge lines to speed the attack. Once
they meet enemy resistance, they deploy
around the defensive positions seeking to
overwhelm particular positions.
The advantages to overwhelming a
position and breaking the defensive line are
numerous. First of all, it destroys defend-
ing units, always a good idea. Secondly, it
allows flanking of the enemy line, allowing
better attacks on nearby units, (i.e. more
hexes to attack from). Thirdly, it allows
penetration of the enemy position, allow-
ing attackers to cut rout paths, move unmo-
lested through rear areas, and generally head
for the victory objective. Unless the defender
has reserves, or can deploy his defences,
the attack has achieved its objective.
I hope you have enjoyed my little tour
through the joys and sorrows of jungle war-
fare. While making no claim to be a master,
I have certainly spent many an hour slog-
ging across the cardboard jungle, and the
thick foliage of Chapter G. The PTO seems
to be very suited to ASL play, due to the
smaller units and the emphasis on indepen-
dent command, and also the very close ter-
rain is easy to represent on ASL mapboards.
If you havent tried the PTO, or were put
off by the density and verbosity of the Chap-
ter G rules, do yourself a favour and give it
another go.
Suggested Scenarios for the
PTO Novice
ASL 70 KP 167
ASL 63 The Eastern Gate
ASL 60 On the Kokoda Trail
ASL 62 Bungle in the Jungle
ASL 67 Cibiks Ridge
ASL A42 Commando Hunt
ASL A53 Smith & Weston
ASL A58 Munda Mash
and of course the Paddington Bears
own
PBP3 Children of the Kunai
THE TRENCHES 23
SOMEWHERE ON MARS, Summer 1997: Scientists have landed the
first robotic rover, Sojerner, on the planet Mars. It is a heady time: many
exciting, new discoveries are now within their grasp. But there is one
question that is in everyone's mind: is there life on Mars?
MARS ATTACKS!
ASL SCENARIO SILLY1
SPECIAL RULES:
1 Before set-up begins, the Martian player makes a dr; a on 1-3 Life has
developed. EC are Moist with a Mild Breeze blowing from the northwest. Use
board 23 to represent Mars. To simulate the Martian OB, take all your
counter trays and dump them out on the board [Designer's Note: I don't mean
to imply that Martian developement would parallel our own; this is just a
work around until TAHGC releases its long promised Martian module on 1st
April 1999).
On a 4-6, no Life is found on Mars. EC are Very Dry; Extreme winter
rules are also in effect. Use board 27. The rover player is encouraged to give
the hammada hexes silly names like "Barnacle Bill", "Stimpy", "Moe", and
AFTERMATH: After an awkward and halting start, the Sojerner claimed
Mars as its own. Any Martians had died long ago.
MARTIAN Sets Up First
ROVER Moves First
DESIGN AND DEVELOPEMENT: J R Van Mechelen and Martin Snow
BOARD CONFIGURATION:
VICTORY CONDITIONS: The Rover player gets one point for each
building or hammada hex Controlled. The Sojerner Controls hexes/buildings
like a MMC (IE it retains Control even when it exits the building/hex), but
must Stop in the hex/building to Control it. The player with the most points at
game end wins. The Martian player Controls all buildings at game start, but
hammada hexes are Uncontrolled.
TURN RECORD CHART
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 END
Rover OB [ELR: see SSR2] enter on GT1 by Paradrop (E9.): {SAN:0}
See SSR1
"Yogi".
2 The Goliath/rover does not need a MMC on board to operate it. Instead it is
operated by an Offboard Observer located at level 200,037,624. Use any
board edge hex for the Location of the observer. The Goliath cannot be
detonated. Treat the rover as having its MP allowance printed in red.
BALANCE:
Deduct 1 to the pre-game Life dr.
Add 1 to the pre-game Life dr.
Martian OB [ELR: see SSR1] see SSR1: {SAN:0}
See SSR1
(C) NASA 1997. Taken from http://mpfwww.jpl.nasa.gov/default.html
24 VIEW FROM
JUST A MATTER OF COMBINATION
Peter Hofland
Last week I was watching the
Mechwarrior cartoon series in which one
of the characters mentioned his motto; In-
formation is ammunition. I think you could
apply the same motto when playing ASL.
This article will give you some information
and tactical implications about Assault
Movement and its combination with other
actions. I hope this article (information) will
give you an edge (ammunition) in winning
a scenario.
Ive been playing ASL for 10 years
now but it wasnt until recently that I dis-
covered Assault Movement can be combined
with other actions. That is why I hope, for
some of you, the information in this article
will be as useful to you as it was to me.
In this article I refer to hex 1 as the
hex your unit is in, and hex 2 as the hex
your unit is moving to.
THE BASICS OF ASSAULT
MOVEMENT
First let me give you the most impor-
tant restrictions with Assault Movement:
* You may move only one Location
(one exception though; see below).
* You are not allowed to use all your
available Movement Factors (MF), at least
a fraction of 1 MF has to remain. Note that
units with a leader have 5.5 instead of 3.5
MF available for Assault Movement. The
MF may also be reduced if the unit is carry-
ing too many SW as well.
* You cannot use Double time.
* You must be non-berserk Infantry
and remain Infantry during the MPh.
* You have to declare Assault Move-
ment before you actually move your
counter(s). You cant decide to use Assault
Movement once you have started moving
your unit(s).
EXCEPTIONS
Not allowed are the combinations of
Assault Movement and pushing a Gun (or
any other activity that is Hazardous Move-
ment), or Searching. So you better accept
the extra casualties, through FFNAM, by
not using Assault Movement.
Nor can you enter/exit a vehicle, since
you are/are not Infantry.
DEFENSIVE FIRE
Defensive Fire is conducted against
a unit using Assault Movement as normal,
I.E. the enemy may fire at you following any
MF expenditure. For example, if youre
Assault Moving out of a foxhole and over a
wall the enemy can fire at you as you exit
the foxhole or after you cross the wall. If
youre moving in the open, you will suffer
the -1 FFMO.
Also, even if you are allowed to use
Assault Movement, this advantage will be
lost as soon as you break. From that point
on you are no longer Assault Moving, and
the -1 FFNAM will apply.
As with regular movement Defensive
Fire is dependent on MF expenditure. I.E.
a unit which Assault Moves into Open
Ground may only be fired upon once.
COMBINED WITH
FORTIFICATIONS
The first possibility of combining
Assault Movement with another action is
given in the ASLRB itself. The ASLRB ex-
plains how you can combine an Assault
Movement out of a Fortification to another
adjacent Location. It is the only exception
which exceeds the restriction of moving
more than one Location but is allowed by
the ASLRB so why not use it.
A disadvantage of this combination
is that you cannot use the Skulking defence
as effectively as you would like to since you
use 1 MF to leave the Fortification and move
into the hex itself. Your opponent could re-
act with fire on this MF expenditure which
could cost you dearly.
By the way, dont forget the FFMO
modifier when a unit leaves certain types
of Fortification which are set up in Open
Ground.
You cannot enter an Open Ground hex
and enter an empty pillbox there, as the pill-
box is another Location within that hex. This
is also true for Bunkers. Units in a pillbox
can only advance out of the pillbox into the
same hex (EXC: bunkers, and tunnels).
COMBINED WITH RE-
COVERY ATTEMPT
You can declare Assault Movement
in hex 1, move to hex 2, and attempt to re-
cover some SW there. Or you can recover
some SW in hex 1 before moving to hex 2 -
just dont roll a 6 on a dr though!
COMBINED WITH SMOKE
PLACEMENT
When your units have a Smoke place-
ment capability you can choose to combine
this action with Assault Movement. You can
attempt the Smoke placement either before
or after the actual movement of the unit(s).
Using it before you move is tricky
since rolling a 6 dr will end your Assault
Movement completely. But remind yourself
of this combination when you have to re-
treat out of a difficult situation. Just Smoke
your own hex (1 MF) and Assault Move
away from the enemy units with the Smoke
counter between you and the enemy units.
For example, your unit occupies an Open
Ground Location but is threatened by a lot
of enemy units so you decide to retreat to a
building two hexes away. Your unit declares
Assault Movement and a Smoke placement
attempt in its own hex (1 MF). After sur-
viving all enemy fire your unit moves in
Open Ground (2 MF total) toward the house
without FFNAM/FFMO and with the
Smoke Hindrance modifier (since LOS from
enemy units is traced through the Smoke
Location). In the APh your units advance
safely in the building.
When using Smoke placement after
the Assault Movement you still have to roll
a dr < 6 and the enemy can fire on your unit
before the attempt. But you can attempt to
place the Smoke adjacent to the Location
you have just moved to if you have enough
MF. For example, your unit declares Assault
Movement and moves to an adjacent Open
Ground hex (1 MF) where it survives all
Defensive First Fire. It then attempts to
place smoke in its own Location (2 MF to-
tal) or in an adjacent Location which con-
tains enemy units (3 MF total). Your other
units now stand a much better chance of
bypassing the Smoked enemy units un-
harmed during the MPh.
Think about using this combination
for your units with a 1 Smoke placement
exponent. First Assault Move them into a
Location and then attempt a Smoke place-
ment. My guess is that those Assault Mov-
ing units are now much more valuable then
before. By the way, I usually dont fire on
THE TRENCHES 25
Assault Moving units so when you manage
to place Smoke together with Assault Move-
ment I usually really regret not firing on
those units!
COMBINED WITH DC
PLACEMENT
If your units have a DC in their pos-
session try combining Assault Movement
with the placement of a DC. This method
allows for use of DCs with a higher prob-
ability of success and makes them more
dangerous.
DCs are usually found in city fights
whereby you have to cross some street in
order to place the DC. Usually you will be
attacked by PBF and FFNAM (and some-
times even FFMO) - result, one Casualty
Reduced, ELRed Half Squad. With the use
of Assault Movement FFNAM is no longer
a problem and the likelihood of survival is
that much higher.
One problem with this though is usu-
ally the MF cost. For example, to move into
a building hex (or a Smoked Open Ground
hex) ADJACENT to your target building
Location costs 2 MF, and placing the DC
costs a further 2 MF, a total of 4 MF, which
prevents you from using Assault Movement
with a lone squad. When using this combi-
nation with a leader, or better a hero alone
though, you have 5.5 MF, so you do not lose
the possibility of Assault Movement - real
heroic indeed!.
COMBINED WITH TH-HERO
One combination which could be use-
ful to the Japanese is Assault Movement
combined with a TH-Hero creation. Your
Japanese unit Assault Moves and the TH-
Hero is free to move as many MF which
remained.
For example, a possible use is a Japa-
nese squad advancing in Open Ground. He
is fired upon by enemy unit but they dont
achieve a result. Now you declare the TH-
Hero creation. What you achieve by this is
that the enemy forfeits one fire attempt on
the TH-Hero, giving him a bigger chance of
survival. During the TH-Hero creation the
Japanese squad and Hero are affected by
possible Residual Fire though, although this
Residual Fire is probably not as effective
as the full FP attack.
COMBINED WITH CON-
CEALMENT AND OPEN
GROUND
For a better understanding of this
combination its important you understand
the definition of Open Ground in relation
to keeping concealment which is in rule
A10.531 and A12.14. If you understand the
definition youll see that you can Assault
Move behind the cover of Smoke or other
form of (Normal) Hindrance and keep your
concealment.
Combining this with a successful
Smoke placement attempt can be a very ef-
fective way of crossing some deadly Open
Ground.
For example, declare Assault Move-
ment and a Smoke placement attempt with
your units. If successful move other units
behind the cover of the Smoke and keep your
concealment.
Another combination to keep conceal-
ment is the benefit of Height Advantage.
The only instance you can lose concealment
is when you advance from lower level to
higher level (or vice versa) and the LOS of
your opponent is traced through the hexside
youve Assault Moved through. In this in-
stance you couldnt apply the Height Ad-
vantage TEM so you couldnt claim the con-
cealment (see example B10.31).
A last suggestion I would like to give
you is the keeping of concealment when
advancing in Shellholes/Vehicle (wrecks)/
etc. So even when not Assault Movement
in concealment terrain you can, under cer-
tain circumstances, keep your concealment
counters on your units as long as you stick
to A10.531.
EXTREME COMBINATIONS
The net result of all this is that you
can try out some extreme combinations and
still use Assault Movement.
For example, a leader and squad de-
clare Assault Movement, drop a SW (0 MF),
place Smoke in their Location (1 MF), move
into a grainfield (2.5 MF), recover a radio
(3.5 MF), place a DC in an ADJACENT
Open Ground Location (4.5 MF), and enter
a foxhole (5.5 MF) in their Location. No
problem.
And heres another one. An enemy
strongpoint is in a building hex. Next to this
hex youve managed to place a Smoke
counter during Prep Fire. Your hero is con-
cealed and adjacent to this hex and pos-
sesses a DC. During movement you declare
Assault Movement and move into the Smoke
(2 MF), keeping your concealment
(A10.531). Next you place your DC on the
enemy strongpoint (4 MF) and keep con-
cealment while being fired on by Area Fire
all the way. Hmm this feel good!
HANDLING ASSAULT
MOVEMENT MF BY MF
When using Assault Movement you
can wait to decide your actions until the
sucess/failure of your current action. This
is just like any other movement (except dash
sometimes), you dont have to say where
you are moving next until it is too late for
your opponent to fire at you.
For example, you have a leader and a
squad in a building. You want to attempt to
recover a SW in your current Location, place
Smoke in an ADJACENT street Location,
and then Assault Move into the street.
First, before expending any MF for
any act you declare that you will be Assault
Moving.
Then announce I am attempting to
recover this weapon. and roll to see if you
succeed.
Wait to see if there is any Defensive
First Fire.
Then announce I will attempt to
place smoke here. and roll to see if you
place Smoke successfully.
First Fire.
If the Smoke placement fails and you
decide not to move into the street, simply
say No more movement.. However, as-
suming the Smoke placement succeeds,
move your units into the street Location.
First Fire.
You are done.
One final note on this subject is that
you can use Assault Movement and non-
movement related activities (place DC, re-
covery etc.) without actually moving a Lo-
cation. This is given in the MMP Q&A batch
printed in VFTT 9 (although it was not in-
cluded in the ASL Annual 97).
This is all the information I have at
hand at the moment. I hope you will put it
to good use in the future. If you see any ob-
vious errors or have any comments or com-
plaints (Hee, Im learning to write here!)
please contact me by snail mail at
Weteringkade 123, 2515 AN Den Haag,
Holland, or by email at phoflandorldacces
s.nl.
26 VIEW FROM
PREP FIRE
Continued from page 2
read about the chateau deau and put in a
chateau. It does not take a historian to know
that chateau deau is French for water
tower. Pedros map and scenarios are the
result of in-depth research into every hex of
that battlefield.
3) Talk to people! There are many
WWII veterans with a story to tell but hesi-
tant to bore a generation that regards any-
thing before 1980 as ancient history. You
may find as I have done, that the accepted
account in all the standard histories can be
traced to one single, inaccurate story that
all the modern authors have picked up; in
the retelling it gains credibility. And finally,
I hope you make as many friends in the pro-
cess as I have.
ALL AMERICAN DESIGN NOTES

HOW GOOD ARE YOU AT ASL?
Whether average or advanced, you might be able to play a vital part in developing an Historical ASL module for
publication.
Some very experienced players are already playtesting the two sequels to ALL AMERICAN: The 82nd Airborne
at Kellams Bridge. But these modules need to appeal to players of all levels of experience, so whatever your level, if
you have the time to play a half dozen or so scenarios and return reports to a tight timescale, Id like to hear from you.
The reward? Your name in the credits, a free copy on publication, and (I hope) a degree of enjoyment.
Please contact (soon!):
Ian Daglish at 5 Swiss Hill Mews, Alderley Edge, Cheshire SK9 7DP
[email protected]
ished with it by Christmas. After that Ill
be whipping it into shape for publication,
either as a special in VFTT, or a one off spe-
cial a la All American. If you would like to
help Andy, contact him at 22 Douglas Av-
enue, Layton, Blackpool, FY3 7AL.
In addition, some of us have also been
talking about publishing a British ASL sce-
nario pack, and were planning on discuss-
ing this further at INTENSIVE FIRE 97
next month. So if youve got a scenario youd
like to see published, or would like to help
out in any way, please get in touch with
me.
As some of you may know, VFTT is
stocked by a couple of shops in the UK and
USA. One of them is Oberons Mole, and
its owner, Gareth Jones, is an avid
Arthurian gamer. In fact, hes into them so
much he produces an irregular zine,
Beaumains. Issue 7 is imminent, so if youre
interested in Pendragon and other Arthurian
games, contact him at Oberons Mole, 69
Atherley Road, Southampton, SO15 5DT.
I hope to see many of you next month
at INTENSIVE FIRE 97. If you want to
share a beer or three and play ASL, come
looking for me!
Until next time, roll low and prosper.
Pete Phillipps
because you on average do more damage to
your opponent than you suffer. Even a 1:4
attack is often worth making, simply be-
cause you are risking very little to get a
chance to take out a relatively strong en-
emy unit.
One problem for the Japanese is that
to get even a 1:2 HtH attack against Ameri-
can units generally requires a single squad
(E.G.: Japanese 4-4-7 vs. US 6-6-6).
Hand-to-Hand Close Combat is a
double edged sword, unless it can be used
from ambush. The Japanese -1 HtH DRM
makes it particularly devastating.
Using several units to get good odds
against a weaker unit may still get all your
units killed. Dont enter HtH CC unless you
are prepared to lose the units going in!
While the Japanese are powerful, they
also arent supermen, and some bad MCs
can really ruin your day ... which brings me
to my very last point, that being that the
Japanese are much more subject to the va-
garies of chance than Western nations.
Whereas a pot-shot that breaks a Western
unit is a matter of rallying and bringing it
back into the line, a couple of Japanese
failed MCs is matter of several Step Re-
ductions. MCs are reversible for everyone
else.
While this is far from an in-depth
THE SOLDIERS OF THE EMPEROR
study of the Japanese and their tactics, I hope
it helps in sort of a general approach the
next time you are faced with these stalwart
warriors.
THE TRENCHES 27
BERLIN: RED VENGEANCE
The Battl e For The Rei chstag APRI L 28th, 1945
Under the piping beat of Die Gotterdamerung, the last
breath of the Nazis was being forced out by the Russian steam-
roller. Surrounded on all sides and smashed from within Berlin
would not quit. In a show of complete arrogance the Nazis would
fight to the last man...and boy.
As the war closed in on Hitler the worlds most sophisti-
cated city was turned into a blazing fortress. One of the cities
greatest buildings, the Reichstag, had been bricked up since
the 1933 fire that raged through its halls. Hitler called the
Reichstag a trashy old shack. To the Russians, the Reichstag
represented nothing less than the National Socialist Party. Nev-
ertheless, the battle for the Reichstag itself would characterize
the hateful four year struggle between the two bitter enemies.
Three bridges spanned the 60 foot deep Spree which led
to the Reichstag from the north (the direction from which the
Russians would come) as the Reichstag stood guard over the
Brandenburg Gate. Ideally situated as a command and supply
base, the Reichstag was quickly turned into a fortress inside
the third and final ring of defenses by Hitlers very own guards.
The Reichstag was not only a pillar of SS defense within
Berlin it was also the main prize for two competing Russian
Marshals Chuikov (First Byelorussian Front) and Koniev (First
Ukranian Front). The two joked bitterly at who would be the
first to enter the Reichstag. The entire battle for Berlin and the
end of six years of unmatched destruction would focus at the
front door of the Reichstag.
Heat Of Battle gives you a front row seat to the last battle,
the last defense and the last sacrifice. Heat Of Battle presents
to you, BERLIN:RED VENGEANCE The Battle for the
Reichstag.
011 KH & GSTK Chapter Dividers $4.00
3
012 GSTK 4.0 Map (seperate) $8
4
Shipping & Handling footnotes:
1. $2.00 S&H if in cont. US or $4.00 if outside cont. US.
4. No Charge for S&H.
ORDERING INFORMATION
BERLIN: RED VENGEANCE will not be available in stores
for a long while so you better get your mits on one while we still
have them in stock. Heres how to order:
Send Check or Money Order to:
Heat Of Battle P.O. Box 15073 Newport Beach, Ca 92659
Gentlemen, HOB is considering accepting your future or-
ders using a Merchant Card Service. If this would be usefull to
you please let us know when you send us your order for BRV.
HERES WHAT YOU GET
BERLIN:RED VENGEANCE comes with a full-color,
printed 24 x 39 hex Historical Map of the entire Reichstag area,
10 individual scenarios, a 9 scenario Campaign Game, Special
Terrain and CG rules, a BRV Chapter Divider, and 56 full-color,
die-cut, printed and mounted original counters. Yes, you heard
us...MOUNTED counters!
BERLIN:RED VENGEANCE is not a complete game. Be-
yond Valor, Red Barricades and KGP I or II are required to play
this module.
BERLIN:RED VENGEANCE is $25.00 plus $2.50 S&H
($5.00 S&H if outside the continental U.S.).
HEAT OF BATTLE PRODUCT LIST
001 GSTK 4.0 $20.00
1
002 BLOOD REEF Sold rights to TAHGC
003 KING OF THE HILL $20.00
1
004 BERLIN:RED VENGEANCE $25.00
2
28 VIEW FROM
NON - COM-MUNICATION
Non-Com: a non-commissioned officer, a squad leader
Communication: to talk, exchange ideas.
MIKE RUDD, NEWCASTLE
Thanks for your recent VFTT which I
enjoyed very much. I was sad to read of the demise
fo ASL News. With its curious Euro-humour and
the articles on KGP I (for me the most enjoyable
CG) it will be much missed.
Joe Arthur and I are thinking of going
to the Toulouse FIREGROUP 97 tournament in
November. Armed with supplies of dice, HP Sauce,
toilet paper and a complete inability to speak French,
we plan to return with bidets full of prizes. Do you
know anyone else who is thinking of travelling over?
Id like to go myself, but lack of
holidays from work (and a lack of money!!) stops
me :-( If anyone else is interested though, feel
free to contact Mike at 52 Woodbine Road,
Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE3 1DE.
JAN SPOOR, USA
The copy of VFTT that you kindly sent
me arrived yesterday, and I wanted to say thank you.
For all that your resources must be limited, it looks
really good. The layout and typography are clean,
the editing is good, and the content is entertaining.
My only suggestion would be to run two columns
instead of three; the longer articles are fine, but the
shorter ones, or ones with shorter paragraphs (e.g.,
Tommy Atkins Alone or War Dogs) look very
choppy.
I have been distressed over the years at
the failure of the gaming community to produce
more than one or two professional-looking
magazines. The General is too broad for my taste,
because it has to cover all AHs games during the
course of the year. ASL zines can concentrate on
one subject area and its related topics, but the lack
of experience (and sometimes lack of taste) shows
through rather often in zines. Critical Hit has a lot
of things going for it, but it badly needs someone
competent to edit it, both for basic stuff (grammar,
spelling, punctuation, consistent style).
Having ranted a bit myself here, let me
wrap up by getting to the point. I really hope that
VFTT continues to be supported by the ASL
community. You give value for money, and (if this
issue is anything to go by) you are page-for-page
better than anything else going.
DOUG MASTON, USA
I picked up a couple of issues of VFTT
today, and Id like to say a few words about it.
The magazine bills itself as Britains
Premier ASL Journal, and who am I to argue. But
to me, its more of a chatty newsletter than a
magazine or a journal.
Youre right, VFTT is more of a
newsletter than a journal, but the saying shows
where Im trying to take VFTT. It might be a while
before I get there, but one day...
Sides, I must be Britains premier, I
sell more than any other British ASL zine :-)
Now dont misunderstand me. I like it
and think I got my moneys worth. Chatty is good!
Its easy going and friendly.
Like its editor :-)
Ive always tried to make VFTT a
combination of Rout Reports fun style and the
more serious analysis approach of Fire For Effect
(the two zines I was aware of when I started
VFTT).
Overall, I like VFTT and intend to keep
buying it as long as Boulder Games is around.
WARREN SMITH, USA
Ive been playing around with the
British SASL charts and my initial thought is that
some scenarios would be pretty hard due to the lack
of heavy MG support in the company.
It seems that a lot of time and effort went
into making the charts historically accurate, which
is good (I have been informed by one or two people
that this is the case with the MGs; they were attached
at a higher level and handed out as needed). But as
I indicated before, every other FRIENDLY company
listing contains a MMG and a HMG and losing that
firepower has to hurt. I just set up a Block Party
mission and was going to play German vs Russian,
but I think Ill change it now and play British vs
German so I can give you an AAR. I have a feeling,
though, that the lack of those MG is going to hurt,
going against all those stone buildings.
I would be interested on the designers
thoughts concerning this. Also, I would be interested
in seeing ETO early war British charts (as well as
any other nationality, but I guess there was a
particular reason that the British charts were
designed and printed by VFTT ;-) at some point.
The only reason I printed British charts
was that the designer submitted them. If anyone
submits charts for the Japs, the French, or any
other nation, Ill happily print them.
MIKE CLAY, USA
Got my first issues of VFTT, liked it a
bunch - it rules. Or at least it doesnt suck as
Beavis and Butthead would say. Anyway point is I
liked VFTT and was impressed.
Thanks for the kind words. I try to do
my best to make sure each issue of VFTT
entertains and informs.
Maybe later on when I have more time
Ill send you an article. Ive been thinking of writing
one on the mechanics of Close Combat for the
beginner. Seems that a lot of beginner players dont
know or understand the subtleties of CC.
Also, I once wrote an article on HtH CC.
Brian Youse was supposed to print it in The General
but last thing I heard was that he changed his mind.
If he isnt going to print the article would you be
interested?
Im always on the look out for more
material. At the moment, I have more than enough
material to carry on as a 16 page mag for the
next year or so, and Im considering adding 4
more pages soon. If I cant maintain my bi-monthly
schedule though, Id rather stick to a smaller mag.
For a lot of my readers, VFTT is their only source
of news and Q&A, so it is quite important to make
sure they dont have to wait too long to get this
info.
MARK MCGILCHRIST,
AUSTRALIA
The VFTT counters are pretty cool,
although they were a little large for my pre-cut blank
counters (as were the Location Control markers
from Cemetary Hill incidentally). Anyway, I ran
them both through a colour copier at 83% and they
were just about right. 86% might have been a little
better. In any case, thay are much, much better than
the AH solution of running around with an
acquisition marker.
The next counter you should consider
is a crashed Glider counter. Looks pretty strange
with a wrecked truck in the middle of a field of
Gliders.
Wish Id thought of it for last issue :-(
Still, ask and you shall receive.
Anyway, I wouldnt say the finished
results are artistic masterpieces like the TOT
counters, but they are never-the-less fully functional.
PETE HOFLAND, HOLLAND
I received the latest issue last weekend.
Again youve done a great job. I especially liked
the They Came From The Sky article. It will be
very useful when I wil start my first campaign of
PB (which arrived the same weekend).
I also liked the idea about the German
paratrooper and Ice Hole counters. Finaly we can
start playing on the Ice and hope a tank will crash
though it.
I also liked the idea about the
Convention Trail.
Keep up the good work. Im looking
forward to the next issue.
JIM MCLEOD, CANADA
I like your idea of a yearly compilation
of selected material and scenarios. What would you
charge for such an issue?
Im still not sure if Ill do a yearly
compilation, since back issues are readily
available. If I do decide to produce one though
itd probably be 32 pages of material for 4.00
(US $8.00), like the VFTT95 compilation.
As for the scenario pack, quite a few of
the guys in the Canadian ASL Association are keen
on putting together a similar scenario pack of
Canadian scenarios. There just does not seem to be
enough of them around.
THE TRENCHES 29
DEBRIEFING
The following Q&A was posted to the
InterNet ASL Mailing List regarding the
Critical Hit! Inc OAF Pack scenario pack.
Scenario OAF 1 Do the German reinforcements enter on turn 1,
as per the TO&E tree, or turn 4, as per the entry arrow?
A Turn 4.
Scenario OAF 2 When does the Russian player make the choice
between reinforcement groups: before German setup, after Ger-
man setup, or when they enter on Turn 3?
A Any time during play.
Scenario OAF 2 Do the German Tigers have to enter all on the
same edge?
A No. and/or signifies this.
Scenario OAF 5 Can the Russians enter anywhere on the south
edge east of the canal, or just on board 23?
A Anywhere.
The following errata regarding
Paddington Bear scenarios was posted by
Mark McGilchrist.
Since the release of Pegasus Bridge, there has been
some minor debate about how to address the problem of having
two sets of PB 1-5 Scenarios.
The final decision has been to redesignate the
Paddington Bear Scenarios as PBP (Paddington Bear Pack), rather
than the previous PB. This is a Scenario Designation Lettering
change only, it has no bearing on the scenario design, and is de-
signed only to clarify which scenario is being cited.
The 1997 Paddington Bear Pack will have printed
designations of PBP#, but for the existing Paddington Bear sce-
narios 1-10, please consider this an official errata to the scenario
designation.
Would all publishers of errata, printed, electronic
or other, please include this errata in their database.
Thank You!
The following Q&A and errata for
King of the Hill was posted by Heat of Battle
Productions, and will be included in the next
edition of their newsletter.
Cover page (page 1) should read 28 hexes by 49 hexes.
Page 3 KH 3.21: Last sentence should read The following Rocket
To Hit DRMs modify C5.0 and use the Black To Hit #s:.
Page 5: Defintitions: SLoc should read Any hex containing woods,
+2 TEM, Good Order MMC, Ditch, Hill 112 or 111 symbol.
Page 10: Legibility for FPP Footnotes:
Foxhole: a F
Trench: c d E F
AP Mine: c d E F G I
AT Mine: c d E F G I
Wire: c d E F G I
HIP: a
?:
AFV Revetment: d E F I
Page 11: ISSR 2 should read (either RG O7 x1 & RG O8 x1; or
RG O8 x2. See RG Chart footnote G).
The Typhoons should have a STAR with a 3 inside it as if a
44FB.
The following errata applies to the
scenario in this issue of VFTT.
Scenario VFTT SILLY1 Mars Attacks! Add to SSR2: The
Offboard Observers commands must be pre-recorded three turns
in advance due to light proagation time delay.
30 VIEW FROM
CFMBL0UX IBF FFlNI
Trevor Edwards
Gembloux - The Feint is a very good
module containing half a dozen scenarios
and a Platoon Leader CG (for V2), along
with a brief background write up from Ray
Tapio.
Although the scenarios are printed on
glossy paper rather than on cardstock (my
one complaint about the product) they are
very clearly printed and even the CH counter
art looks OK. The cards include the unit
insignia of the combatant formations, some
of which cut quite a dash since the suits from
a pack of cards appear to be the French in-
signia.
The subject matter is a clash between
the German armoured spearhead thrusting
westwards through Belgium towards the
French border, and a massed French
armoured presence near - you guessed it -
Gembloux.
The scenarios vary from small to large
in size but the unit density is fairly light
throughout.
This is real early war stuff. The Ger-
mans are bombing about in early MkIIIs with
poxy 37L guns and weak armour (a circled
3 for front). They do have superb MG ar-
mament, toting 3/8 and that sD7 is very use-
ful.
The French seem to have few (if any)
AT guns and are usually light on the infan-
try front too, thus depending on their tanks
as the main defence force.
These tanks are usually slow, small,
radioless and poorly armed. They have 1MT
(blech!) and a good gun is a 37 but 37*
are common.
The big problem is the combination
of lousy MGs and AP10. Since the HE round
is almost useless vs enemy tanks, these ef-
fectively have B10 as far as the tank battle
is concerned. The German infantry can run
up and CC them for fun if the CA is point-
ing the other way.
The only consolation is that the
MkIIIs have B11 as well and that the French
armour, typically four squared all round, is
excellent for the period. Many hits by Ger-
man AP rounds bounce off in any given ac-
tion. But then the French AP TK#s are pretty
lousy too, so many of theirs will fail to pen-
etrate.
There is one scenario I have played
where the Somuas local superiority is evi-
dent. An excellent tank for the period, but
Id still rate the Matilda over it, despite its
relative speed and HE.
These tank battles are unlike the mid
to late war clashes. The infantry have no
decent inherent AT weapons and the tanks
must rely almost solely on their MGs to af-
fect the enemy infantry as the calibre of their
MAs are so low. The next time I get a Pan-
ther in my OoB Ill appreciate it all the more.
Of the scenarios I have so far played,
two share a similar theme: Motorised but
unarmored German infantry must cross
lightly wooded but otherwise open country-
side and then take a village. They have a
sizable escort of tanks in a ratio of approxi-
mately 2:1 to the defending French.
The French dilemma is how to set up
their tanks. Spreading out to cover all av-
enues of approach has its advantages since
there is then no particularly weak point. The
problems are that the Germans will have
local superiority in numbers anyway and that
the French tanks cant rely on being able to
move if set up away from each other, to col-
lapse on the armoured spearhead.
If I could set up my forces again in
my recent game of Reluctant Withdrawal
I would have had them in pairs in fewer,
well defended, areas I think. By the end only
lucky dice and German tardiness would have
saved the day for me... they didnt.
The scenario pack has a fair mix of
situations and there is certainly enough
variation for the players attention to be held
all the way through. Theres at least one
infantry only clash and the French get to
attack in some scenarios.
I think this scenario pack is excellent
and really explores the fighting capabilities
of the French armour on the rare occasion
of it being present in any numbers. CdG fans
need this module! In fact, when I bought
CdG I expected more of this type of thing to
be included. As it was, the Avalon Hill mod-
ule included all sorts of scenarios involving
all sorts of French units in all sorts of the-
atres, thus diluting the early war experience
somewhat.
It is available for $17.95 from Criti-
cal Hit at 88 Lodar Lane, Brewster, NY
10509, United States of America. UK ASL
players can also order it for 14.40 from The
Crusaders, 4 Monkton Down Road,
Blandford Camp, Blandford Forum, Dorset,
DT11 8AE.
attack on Le Port.
Overall though your tactics in Night
III should be similar to those in Night II.
The presence of so many additional British
units may make it difficult to make much
headway, but if the British are not in force
across the bridge by the end, they will
struggle in Dawn and Day I as the bulk of
your reinforcements arrive.
If you can have the British totally on
the east side as the sun behgins to rise it
will be almost impossible for them to get
back across the river. With your additional
units and the lack of the NVR you will be
able to bring so much FP to bear on the
WSBEH it would be suicidal to enter. Not
to mention Fire Lanes down the Bridge. All
of this from positions on the West side to
which the British will have very restricted
LOS and, because of range, much lower FP.
NIGHT-TIME AT PEGASUS BRIDGE

CG designer Dan Dolan) and Stonne
Hieghts (by Pedro Ramis. Check out ASL
News 29 for a look at an early version of the
map for this).
Finally, MMP president Brian Youse
has announced that permission to copy and
freely distribute copies of BackBlast has
been rescinded. We gave unlimited photo-
copy permission when there was not a hope
of anyone outside of the original purchas-
ers of BackBlast seeing what we considered
to be fine the articles and scenarios. Now
that were occasionally reprinting these ar-
ticles/scenarios, our lawyer says we have to
revoke that permission.
Sorry.
INCOMING
THE TRENCHES 31
ON THE CONVENTION TRAIL
There are more and more ASL tournaments cropping up all over the world. In fact, it is possible to be involved in an ASL tournament
at least once a month, often more, if you were so inclined (and had the financial means to live such a life - I wish!).
If you plan on holding an ASL tournament, please let me know and Ill include the details here, space permitting.
SEPTEMBER
THE CANADIAN ASL OPEN 97
When: 26 - 28 September.
Where: Viscount Gort Hotel, 1670 Portage Avenue, Winnipeg, MB, Canada. Rooms;
$64 single, $66 double, $68 triple and $70 quad. Hotel telephone # 1 204 775 0451. Rooms on the 6th
floor are booked for the ASL event.
Format: 5 - 6 round Swiss style with a scenario list being sent out to all pre-registrants.
Fees: $25.00.
Notes: Plaques, gift certificates for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers and for the
highest placing Canadian. T-shirts are available for $20.00 ($25.00 on the day). All prices are in Cana-
dian Dollars.
This event is open to any and all players ... not just us Canucks ;)
Contact: Jim McLeod, 978 Strathcona Street, Winnipeg, MB, R3G 3G5, Canada. Tele-
phone 204 783 3649, or by e-mail at [email protected]. Payments should be made out to the
Winnipeg ASL Club.
OCTOBER
OCTOBEAR 97
When: 4 - 5 October.
Where: Paddington RSL Club, Oxford Street, Paddington, Sydney NSW, Australia.
Fee: A$20.00.
Format: In keeping with the tradition of OCTObear presenting unique and interesting
formats this years 2 day struggle will focus on the campaign in Burma in March 1942. The format will
not be a standard 4 tournament scenario type event but instead will involve the players in a DYO
campaign game style competition where not only do you have control of your forces (either British,
Chinese, Japanese or Burmese) but also get to design them (within historical limits). This widens the
possibilities of each scenario and introduces a genuine fog of war. This is something new in competi-
tion ASL and is guaranteed to be buckets of fun.
Notes: Organised by those wonderful Paddington Bears this unique competition will
bring together the Koala Hit Squad and the greatest ASL minds and bodies gracing this fine
country.(McGilchrist will also be present).
In order to improve the play of local and overseas entrants substantial supplies of alco-
holic beverages will be available and imbibing will be encouraged.
Contact: For further details and the full rules see the Paddington Bears Home Page at
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~mmjm/index.html or contact the organiser Paul Seage at
[email protected]. Nationalities will be assigned on preference in order of entry so let me
know ASAP to get your first pick! (Obviously there must be an even number of Allied and Axis
players so latecomers may have little choice!).
OKTOBERFEST ASLOK 1997
When: 7 - 13 October.
Where: The Holiday Inn, 7230 Engle Road, Middleburg Heights, Ohio, OH 44130.
Telephone (216) 243 4040. Mention ASL Oktoberfest prior to 20th September and rooms are $75.00
per night (suitable for four); thereafter they are $20.00 - $30.00 more expensive.
Fee: $20.00.
Format: Theme tournaments, mini-tournaments, The Grofaz (the Big Weekend Tour-
nament), and friendly play galore.
Notes: ASLOK is THE players fest, a festival of gaming and gamesmanship as much
as it is a competitive tournamentYou will find grognards, rookies, experts and average players alike.
You will find comradeship, good gaming, interesting talk, some new materials, and you are bound to
learn and teach a few things. ENJOY!
Contact: Mark Nixon, 443 Richmond Park West, 201D, Richmond Heights, OH 44143
or by telephone on (216) 473 1680 (do not be distressed by peculiar recorded messages, courtesy of
my 14 year old daughter!). You can also email Rick Troha at rickt@nwsupcom, or visit the ASLOK
Home Page at http://www.en.com.users/rickt/aslok/aslhome.htm.
INTENSIVE FIRE 97
When: 17th -19th October.
Where: The Embassy Hotel, Meyrick Road, East Cliff, Bournemouth, Dorset, England.
Telephone (01202) 290751. Rooms are 35.00 per day and include a full English breakfast.
Fee: Free for members of The Crusaders, the UK ASL association; 5.00 for others.
Format: A three round Fire Team tournament, plus open gaming for those who do not
wish to take part.
Notes: A visit to the Bovington Tank Museum is on offer at 9am on the Friday morn-
ing. Transport will be laid on for those without their own transport.
Contact: For further details and an application form contact Neil Stevens, 4 Monkton
Down Road, Blandford Camp, Blandford Forum, Dorset, DT11 8AE. Phone (01258) 459851 or email
[email protected].
NOVEMBER
TOULOUSE FIREGROUP 97
When: 8 - 10 November.
Where: the Town Hall of Escalquens, a small town 10 KM away from Toulouse.
Fee: 50FF (10$).
Format: 3 day play, 2 official rounds per day, and an obliged unedited middle sized
scenario in each round. All the scenarios are based on the theme The birth of the 1st French Army:
The battle of Toulon, and before each round, a presentation of the scenario to be played will be made,
placing the scenario in the battle, giving the tactical environment and explaining the terrain, the OB and
the SSR.
For those not wanting to participate in the tournament, a 6 scenario mini-campaign on
the same theme is proposed.
The campaign will also be included, along with the 6 tournament scenarios and 4 others
(unedited) in the Provence Scenario Pack.
Notes: Free accomodation can be provided in limited amount by local players. If insuf-
ficient, everything will be done to get the best prices for the participants in the local Inns (according to
their wishes....)
Contact: Laurent Cunin, 5, rue du Berjean, 31750 Escalquens, France. Phone (33) 61
27 94 91 or email [email protected].
DECEMBER
1998
JANUARY
WEST COAST MELEE, Los Angeles, United States of America. Details to be announced.
CHICAGO ASL OPEN, Chicago, United States of America. Details to be announced.
FEBRUARY
MARCH
MARCH MADNESS 98, Kansas City, United States of America. Details to be announced.
BERSERK 98, Blackpool, England. Details to be announced.
La Fiere Manoir, 9 June 1944: Third Battalion of the

325th Glider Infantry Regiment was lined up to assault
the causeway in sequence of companies: George, Easy,
Fox. As the men of Easys 1st Platoon arrived at La Fiere,
the bulk of George Company was still strung out across
the causeway. Stragglers, wounded, and dead plus a
trickle of German prisoners formed a physical barrier to
the advance. Meanwhile, German shells continued to
pound the crossing. Platoon Sergeant Henry Howell had
no orders to move through the lead company until the
Battalion S3 urged him to Get this platoon moving or
well die here...
ALL AMERICAN The 82nd Airborne at Kellams
Bridge: June 6-9, 1944 tells the story of the battle be-
tween the All American 82nd Airborne Division and
the German 91st Luftlande Division on a scale which is
perfect for enthusiasts of Adv. Sqd. Ldr. and miniatures
systems. At CH were so sure this story will fascinate
war-games for years to come, weve chosen it as the
subject to debut our new, stand-alone Platoon Leader
TM
tactical level game system. Whatever system you choose
to play it with, you can rest assured that ALL AMERI-
CAN is the result of extensive research, testing and
battlefield tours like no game which has come before it.
ALL AMERICAN comes in two versions: the compat-
ible package provides all you need to
play using Adv. Sqd. Ldr., tactical-
level rules, or miniatures system of
choice without having to pay for un-
wanted extras. The original game in-
cludes all the game pieces needed for
play, a complete rule-book, play aids,
and two ten-sided dice in the colors of
the 82nd Airborne. Both versions also
contain 10 scenarios, all playable on
an original, historical 30 x 18 map
of the Normandy countryside along the Merderet River
west of Sainte Mere Eglise. Available for only $29.95
at better hobby and game stores world-wide or direct
from Critical Hit!, Inc.
An actual view of
La Fiere Manoir
depicted in hex
AA9 of our game
map. This shot
was but one of
many taken of re-
maining struc-
tures during the
battlefield tours
of the Kellam's
bridge battle-
field. The locals
were interviewed
and lots of tidbits
dug up to add to
the story. You can
be sure we'll be bringing you extensive coverage in the pages of Critical Hit magazine soon!

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YIEW FRBH THE TREXlHES

PTO TERRAIN SUMMARY

ALL AMERICAN DESIGN NOTES

NIGHT-TIME AT PEGASUS BRIDGE

La Fiere Manoir, 9 June 1944: Third Battalion of the

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